The Incursean Invasion
by Sodium Acetate
Summary: My take on the episodes entitled "The Frogs of War" Some scenes and quotes taken from the episode, but most are from my imagination. Please don't sue me for I have no money and I don't own Ben 10! Rating changed to M for incest, language, etc. Don't read if offended. I do not condone incest and the like in real life (obviously)! Chapter 7 marks the beginning of a crossover.
1. The Invasion

**The Incursean Invasion-Part 1**

Bellwood Expressway

"Hey! What's the holdup?" Ben Tennyson yelled out the window of the Plumber truck. He could see a traffic jam that seemed to stretch for miles. "Isn't this supposed to be the expressway?" he fumed. "Bellwood needs to fix this congestion!" Ben started tapping his fingers on the armrest.

"Cut that out Ben!" said Rook Blanco, Ben's new alien partner after Gwen and Kevin left for university.

"Sorry!" Ben said. "I need a way to pass the time. This traffic doesn't seem to be moving anytime soon."

"Well, playing the violin with your thumbs is not helping," said Rook.

"Oh, you mean fiddling with my thumbs."

"These Earth expressions you use make no sense at all," complained Rook.

Suddenly, a loud explosion occurred and a giant hole appeared in the middle of the highway. Out of the hole zoomed one alien ship after another.

"I wonder what the population of Undertown is so worried about. Why are they all fleeing the city?" exclaimed Ben.

A green alien with five eyes provided the answer. "The Incurseans are coming! The Incurseans are coming!" he screamed.

"Pssh!" Ben snorted. "The last time I beat those toads, they swore they would never come back. This is going to be a piece of cake!"

"Let's head back to Plumber HQ just in case," said Rook.

Plumber HQ

When the duo arrived at the headquarters, the place was in full panic mode. Alarms were blaring and people were running all over the place. A lone figure stood on top of the crisis management desk trying to restore order, but nothing seemed to be working. Just then, the person spotted Ben.

"Hi Ben! How's my grandson been?" he asked.

"Hi Grandpa Max! Can we cut short the chitchat? I hear there's going to be an invasion," yelled Ben. It was the only way Grandpa Max could hear him over the din.

"For starters, you can calm these plumbers down so we can organize a defense plan. Try transforming into one of your aliens, preferably Echo-Echo," screamed Max into Ben's ear.

Ben transformed into said alien and projected his sonic boom attack around the room, shattering the glass windows. That seemed to wake everyone up.

"Ok everybody, listen up. We need to stall the Incurseans long enough for us to prepare a counterattack. What do you guys suggest?" Max said as Ben transformed back to normal.

"We have a planetary shield that should delay them for a bit Magister Tennyson," one Plumber said.

"Go erect it. We don't have much time before the Incurseans get here," said Max.

The plumber pushed a button and a satellite projected a dome of pick energy that enveloped the planet.

"What can I do Grandpa? I want to help!" asked Ben.

"Sorry buddy, you'll have to deal with a more immediate problem," said his grandpa.

Max turned on the television and they watched as hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the headquarters.

"You want me to deal with this?" Ben asked. "I could be out there repelling an invasion and you want me to speak to angry residents?"

"No doubt they're angry about the alien population in Undertown. Because you wear the Omnitrix, you might be able to convince them that the aliens are all right. We don't want to be fighting a two front war, you know," explained Max.

"All right, I'll see what I can do" said Ben, resentfully.

Low Earth Orbit

"Finally we have arrived!" exclaimed Emperor Milleous. He pulled out a microphone. "Time to give a little speech to our puny defenders."

"Attention Earthling scum. This is your conqueror, Lord Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of galaxies, keeper of the conquest ray, all beings tremble- oh forget it. You won't live long enough! Resistance is futile, although greatly encouraged for my amusement." He was met with silence.

"Hey, what gives?" he asked.

"Hello? Planetary shields are up? They couldn't hear you even if they wanted to!" declared Princess Attea.

"Be quiet before I put you in a stasis pod!" Milleous thundered.

"You wouldn't dare daddy. After all, who's in charge of your fleet?" asked Attea.

"You are in command of only a small portion of my fleet," he corrected. "I am still in charge here."

"Ram that shield until it breaks!" Milleous ordered. Incursean ships began to ram the shield until cracks started to form. _It won't be long now, Milleous thought._

Outside Plumber HQ

The crowd outside grew to over a thousand screaming protesters egged on by none other than Will Harangue, the infamous host of Harangue Nation, a network dedicated to a Ben Ten smear campaign. "How do you explain the alien population living right under our city?" Harangue asked.

"Those aliens are just like you and me. They're honest creatures just trying to make a living," Ben replied, nervously fiddling with his Omnitrix.

"Randomizer function activated," said the Omnitrix. _Uh- oh, this can't be good, Ben thought._

"It's time to expose you for the menace you are Ben Tennyson! How do we know that you're not working with your alien friends to take over the Earth?" asked Harangue.

"Look, I said it once and I'll say it again. You have nothing to fear from- "

Suddenly, Ben transformed into Way Big and crushed half a dozen cars. "See what I mean? He's a menace!" screamed Harangue as people looked on in horror.

"Sorry folks. I have no idea what happened. You have nothing to fear," said Ben.

Ben transformed into Nergy (pun on energy) and blasted a nearby building. Flames shot up 20 feet into the air. "I can fix this!" Ben shouted as he escaped from his radiation suit. "There's no need to panic, but you might want to start backing away from me. The radiation might be harmful."

Ben's next transformation changed him into Water Hazard and he doused the flames with his cannons. The water fell on and drenched Harangue.

"I'll get you Tennyson! Somehow, someday, I will find a way to expose you!" vowed Harangue.

"My work here is done," exclaimed Ben. "Now I'll go see if Grandpa Max needs my help."

Low Earth Orbit

"Are you buffoons almost done with that shield?" asked Emperor Milleous. Finally, a small section of the shield gave way.

"Team Supreme, you're with me!" yelled Attea. "It's time to invade Earth!"

Plumber HQ

"Warning! Breach detected in sector 5!" informed a mechanical voice.

"All right, the situation is serious. We need to launch an all out assault on their flagship if we're going to have a chance of defeating this invasion. Everyone, let's move!" ordered Max.

"Ben, you and Rook jump in a Plumber craft and follow me. If you can get inside their flagship, you can stop the invasion" said Max.

"Sure thing Grandpa," said Ben.

"I have a bad feeling about this Magister," said Rook.

"Relax, everything will be just fine," responded Max.

The Plumber aircraft zoomed out of the tunnels and engaged Princess Attea's squadron. She ordered a tactical retreat back to space.

Low Earth Orbit

"There's Milleous' flagship! Destroy it!" yelled Max. The six ships spewed green laser fire at the giant flagship, but to no avail.

"Ha! We have a shield up Tennyson! You won't destroy our fleet that easily! Now give them a taste of our firepower!" Milleous ordered.

Giant turbolasers emerged from the depths of the ship and began peppering the area with heavy fire. The Plumber ships weaved around this storm of fire. Suddenly, Max saw something that made him gasp. Four Incursean fighters were chasing Ben and Rook, firing all the while. Max watched as their Plumber ship was hit once and then again moments later. Over his comm., he heard Rook say, "We're too heavily damaged. I'm going to crash the ship into Emperor Milleous' ship."

"No! That's suicide. Don't do it!" ordered Max.

"We don't have a choice. We're going to get shot down eventually" replied Rook. A moment later, he angled his ship and crashed kamikaze style into the side of Milleous' flagship.

"Nooooooooooooo!" yelled Max as a giant fireball erupted. Unbeknownst to his grandpa, Ben shielded Rook from any damage with his Bloxx transformation.

"We're fine!" Ben reported.

"Not for long you're not!" said a voice behind Ben.

Ben turned to see Emperor Milleous holding a blaster. "I have something that involves you, a lot of pain, and destruction on a planetary scale!" announced Milleous.

"Sorry toad face, but I'm not interested," replied Ben.

As Rook fended off Milleous with his handy proto-tool, Ben struggled to find something good to transform into.

"Come on Omnitrix! Don't fail me now!" he pleaded. There was a flash of green light and Ben transformed into Rath.

"Lemme tell you something you obese toad! No one messes with Rath's planet and gets away with it!" Rath roared.

"Oh yeah? Let me see you handle this!" yelled Milleous as he jumped in the air and pinned Rath to the floor with his weight.

"Lemme tell you something you piece of fat that's slowly crushing me! Rath's not going down without a fight!" Rath wheezed. With his last bit of strength, Ben transformed into Big Chill and slipped out from under Milleous thanks to his intangibility ability. He then froze the emperor solid.

"Attention all Incursean fighters. The plumbers have infiltrated this ship. Trust no one but me. I order you to fire on this ship!" Yelled Ben in Emperor Milleous' voice.

The flagship began to roll over from all the friendly fire and enter Earth's atmosphere. Emperor Milleous unfroze and grabbed hold of Big Chill.

"Hey! Let go of me. Ben transformed back into Rath.

"A very poor choice of words I'm afraid" said Emperor Milleous as he threw Rath out the window of the burning flagship.

"Lemme tell you something gravity!" screamed Rath as he hurtled towards the ground. "Rath doesn't believe in physics! And that means, as far as Rath's concerned, you are going to lose!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Will Rath survive his plunge from outer space? Will the Incurseans manage to take over Earth? Find the answers to these questions in Part 2!


	2. The Deal

**Incursean Invasion part 2**

"You're going down gravity!" screamed Rath as he plummeted toward Earth.

"Contigo!" a voice cried and Rath was enveloped in a magenta colored sphere, protecting him from harm.

"Huh?" said Rath. "Lemme tell you something mysterious stranger who just saved my butt from certain death! Rath is able to handle himself!"

"Come off it Ben. I saw you fall at least 25 miles. You would've been killed if I wasn't here to save you," continued the voice.

"Show yourself! Rath doesn't have all day to talk to invisible beings!"

Rath transformed into Chromastone and fired an energy blast towards the direction of the voice.

A pink shield sprung up and deflected the blast. Chromastone reverted back to Ben.

"I know of only one person able to conjure up energy shields and that's my cousin," exclaimed Ben.

"Hey cuz! How's it going?" asked Gwen, stepping out of the shadows.

"If you don't count the armada over our heads, it's going well," said Ben. "Anyways, why are you here? I thought you were at college?"

"Change of plan. My professor turned out to be a plumber and he was ordered to help fend off the invasion. I offered to help him, so here I am."

Suddenly, the Incursean flagship landed right next to Ben and out jumped Emperor Milleous holding a blaster. He aimed it at Ben and fired. A force field sprung up shielding Ben from the blast. A plumber ship landed next to the Incursean flagship and out sprung Max Tennyson.

"Hands off my grandson toadface!" cried Max as he too pulled out a blaster and aimed it at Milleous.

"Don't make this complicated Max. Drop your weapon and surrender now," said Milleous.

"I don't think so. Just look, you're surrounded," countered Max.

Milleous looked up and saw he was boxed in by four plumber ships. He smiled.

"I suggest you look a little higher," he told Max.

Max glanced up and saw that his plumber ships were surrounded by at least one hundred Incursean battleships. He threw down his blaster.

"Ok, we surrender. What are your terms?" he asked.

"I'm feeling a bit generous so I won't kill you guys. All I ask in return is that you disband the plumber organization, give us Ben Tennyson and allow us to rule Earth," said Milleous.

"You have yourself a deal," said Max.

"What?! You can't be serious!" screamed Ben.

"It's for the best Ben. We'll have you back soon enough," said Max.

"No, I'm not going!" yelled Ben.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice. Either way you'll end up with us" said Milleous.

"At least let me say my goodbyes," said Ben.

Ben turned towards Gwen and Max. Max walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Goodbye for now son. Don't worry; we can manage without your help."

Then, it was Gwen's turn.

"See you cuz. Take care of yourself now," she said. Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed him. Ben blushed. He had never known his cousin to be the affectionate type.

"Say goodbye to Kevin for me and don't get into too much trouble. I'll be back before you know it!" said Ben.

When he had said his goodbyes, Princess Attea jumped out of the flagship and forced him into a stasis pod.

"Hey! This isn't part of the agreement! You said I would be your prisoner!" Ben cried.

"Well, there's been a change of plan. You are being sent into exile. It was daddy's plan all along."

"Milleous! We had a deal! You said he wouldn't be sent into exile!" yelled Max.

"Deals were meant to be broken," replied Milleous. The pod door closed and the engine started.

"Let's go," Milleous told Attea, "I have an inauguration ceremony to attend to."

Will Harangue Nation

"Reporting to you live from downtown Bellwood. The menace Ben Tennyson is about to be blasted off into outer space by our benevolent Incursean conquerors! What a cause for celebration!" screamed Harangue.

The rocket lifted off from the launch pad. "Goodbye and good riddance Ben Tennyson!"

Plumber HQ

"Don't worry Gwen. We'll get your cousin back," said Max.

"How? The plumbers have been disbanded as per the agreement, remember?"

"Well, Milleous broke his side of the deal, so we can break ours too."

Low Earth Orbit

The rocket had cut its engines once it got past Earth's atmosphere. Inside, the lone figure tried to make himself comfortable, burdened by the heavy manacles that inhibited his movement.

"Could this day get any worse?" the teen asked no one in particular.

"Warning: fuel levels dangerously low. Crash landing is imminent. Please select your landing site," said the computer.

"Cool! I get to choose?"

"Choices are: Galvan B, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and Anur Transyl."

"Ok. I choose Galvan B. Azmuth will know what to do!"

"Plotting course to Galvan B."

Ben tried to enjoy the ride there.

Galvan B

"Greetings young Tennyson. What brings you here?" asked Azmuth.

Ben looked the creator of the Omnitrix in the eye.

"I was banished from Earth," he mumbled.

"And now you need a way back?" asked Azmuth.

"Exactly."

"Hmm. I happen to have a certain DNA sample from an Incursean that I can program into the Omnitrix. It lets you transform into an Incursean," said Azmuth.

"Cool," exclaimed Ben, "Gimme!"

"Not so fast young man. I've noticed you've activated the randomizer function. I have to fix it before I give you your new alien, but that will take a few days," said Azmuth.

"But I don't have a few days! Milleous and his armada a ruling Earth right now!"

"I was speaking in relative terms. It would take a few days in Earth time, but here, it only takes five minutes."

"Ha-ha. Very funny."

Azmuth jumped on Ben's arm and fiddled with the Omnitrix.

"Randomizer function deactivated. New alien acquired," said the Omnitrix.

"There you are Tennyson," said Azmuth," now try not to destroy the thing will you?"

Ben was in the process of slamming his palm on the Omnitrix, but stopped.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't slam it! That's how you get those random transformations."

"I see. Now, how am I supposed to get back to Earth, Azmuth?"

I happen to have a spare Incursean cruiser in the hanger. You'll have to turn into the Incursean alien first."

"Oh, you mean Bullfrag?"

"Excuse me? You name your aliens?"

"Um, yeah. It just sounds cool yelling out names in the middle of a fight."

"No wonder you're so immature," Azmuth grumbled.

Ten minutes later, Ben aka Bullfrag left Galvan B on a course back to Earth.

United States (one month since the Invasion)

"This is Will Harangue reporting to you from the White House where today Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of galaxies, keeper of the conquest ray…"

"Get on with the program!" yelled Milleous. "I didn't hire you to be propaganda chief for nothing."

"Of course not your Excellency. Anyways, Emperor Milleous is about to be crowned the 45th President of the United States. The whereabouts of President #44 are still unknown."

"Now, Mr. President elect, repeat after me," said Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.

"I, Emperor Lord Milleous of the deathless Incursean Empire, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Milleous repeated the words. "Congratulations, Mr. President," Roberts said.

"Guards, take him away," ordered Milleous. The Incursean security forces dragged Roberts down to a holding cell.

"Now for my first act as President, I give myself the power to suspend the Constitution," he cried.

"You can't do that Mr. President," several members of Congress yelled.

"I can now, after I do this." Milleous threw all the members of Congress into the holding cells.

"Any further objections? Good! Next, I give myself the power to issue Presidential Decrees."

"Decree #1: The Constitution is hereby suspended, all opposition parties are disbanded and banned and the official name shall be changed from the United States of America to the Democratic People's Republic of Milleous (DPRM). Hardly free nor fair elections will be held tomorrow, where I will be the only candidate. Remember, vote for me or else!"

"Decree #2: The only channel you can get your news from is Will Harangue Nation, which is not at all under my control. Furthermore, the official language of the DPRM is now Milleousnese, not English. Don't worry; the new language is the same as the old one. We will now address each other as comrade, because I happen to respect the communist system. Finally, I have changed a couple words to Milleous, just for the fun of it. The full list can be found on this website: www. ."

"Thank you for understanding these difficult times and please, do not hesitate to complain. All you will get is a year in detention. Enjoy the rest of your day comrades. Remember, work makes you free."

Random Doctor's Office

"Hello comrade! I have Milleous news!" said the doctor.

"Milleous! Let me hear the Milleous News!" cried the patient.

"You are HIV-Milleous comrade!"

(Yes the words for positive, negative, good and bad were all changed to Milleous).

Plumber HQ (Underground now)

"I can't believe Milleous is doing this!" cried Gwen.

"Yeah, I know. I just checked out his website. Half the words in the entire English languages were just changed to Milleous," replied Max.

"I hope Ben comes back soon to stop this freak."

"I have an African American man standing outside the gate claiming to be the missing 44th President of the United States, Mr. Tennyson. Should I let him in?" asked a guard.

"Yes, yes, let him in."

"I want my old job back!" cried Barack Obama. "I can't believe I am the first President to leave office since Nixon! And I didn't do anything to deserve it!"

"Don't worry, Mr. President. You'll get your job back soon enough," said Max.

_Ben, please hurry thought Gwen_.

On approach to Bellwood International Airport

Welcome to Milleous International Airport. We hope you enjoy your stay in the DPRM, comrade," croaked the Air Traffic Controller.

"What happened to the United States?" Ben asked.

"Oh, Emperor Milleous changed the name along with many other words."

"Right. I have to go to the plumber base right now. There's some business I have to attend to.

"The plumbers don't exist anymore."

"Whatever. Just get me to the HQ."

Ben arrived at plumber HQ a few minutes later as Bullfrag.

Plumber HQ

"Warning! Intruder outside!" screeched the computer.

Gwen rushed outside and confronted Bullfrag. She trapped him in a sphere of mana.

"Who are you?" she snarled.

Bullfrag used his tongue to disintegrate the energy sphere. Gwen fired magenta disks at him, but he just opened his mouth and swallowed them whole. He turned away from her and spit them at a nearby Incursean ship.

"Huh? Who's side are you on anyway?" asked Gwen.

"Obviously, I'm on yours," said Bullfrag.

"Ben, is that you? It's been so long"

"Nope. It's been like 3 days for me."

"That's because you were travelling at the speed of light, Ben. Time speeds up for you relative to everyone else. Haven't you heard of Einstein's theory of relativity?"

"Yeah, Azmuth told me something to that effect."

"You met Azmuth? I thought he said he didn't want anything to do with you."

"Well, he helped me out and here I am."

"You better come inside the base before anything else happens."

Ben and Gwen walked inside the base. Max Tennyson looked up to see an Incursean coming towards him. Instinctively, he reached for his blaster and let off a shot. The shot would have hit Ben had he not swallowed it.

"I'm not who you think I am," said Bullfrag.

"Listen to him Grandpa. He's not an Incursean," said Gwen.

"Then who are you?" asked Max.

Ben transformed back into himself.

"Does this clear things up?"

"Ben! We all thought you were dead!" exclaimed Max.

"Really?"

"Well Grandpa did. I never gave up hope," said Gwen.

"Neither did I," said a voice form the shadows.

"Kevin?" Ben asked.

"The one and only. How's it going Tennyson?"

"Listen, we got more important matters on our hands, so skip the chitchat," said Max.

"What is it?" said Ben, Gwen and Kevin.

"Milleous knows you came back, Ben. He's ordered anyone who finds you to arrest you."

"I'm sorry Ben. I'm going to turn you in. Kevin, Gwen, help me," said Max.

Have Grandpa Max, Kevin and Gwen turned traitor? Find out in Part 3!


	3. Family Feud

**Incursean Invasion-Part 3**

Plumber HQ

Ben slowly backed away from the advancing threesome. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"We're giving you up. It's the only way to save Earth," replied Max.

"Ok, I'm going to the loo (toilet). Call me if you need me," Barack Obama said. He walked out of the conference room.

"All right Ben. There's no reason to resist. If you come quietly, we won't harm you," Gwen told him, "but if you don't, we'll have no choice but to subdue you. Either way, you're coming with us."

"I'm hoping you'll try something. I've wanted to beat you up since we were kids," said Kevin.

"Sorry guys, but I'm not going down without a fight, even if it's against my family and friends!" retorted Ben.

"I'm sorry I have to do this to you Ben," said Max. He pulled out an ion blaster and set the mode on stun. Then he aimed it at Ben. Ben quickly transformed into Lodestar and yanked the gun out of Max's hands with his magnetic powers before the latter could fire it.

"All right you two deal with him," muttered Max. Gwen summoned her spheres of mana, which she threw at Ben. Ben transformed into Upchuck and swallowed it.

"Come on Gwen. That was the oldest trick in the book. Don't you think I've memorized your opening moves by now?" asked Ben. He unloaded his projectile at Kevin, who was charging in for an attack. The missile threw Kevin against the wall, cracked his aluminum armor and knocked him out.

"That's enough fighting for a day!" Max declared as he threw a concussion grenade at Ben, hoping to knock the boy out. Ben threw it back at Max and the resulting blast knocked Max out too. Now there were only two people left standing. It was Ben against his cousin.

"The offer to surrender is still open, you know," Gwen stated as she slowly backed Ben into a corner. She formed a giant hand out of mana and attempted to restrain him. Ben transformed into Goop and slipped through the fingers. Ben attempted to slither away, but Gwen chanted _Thanatis Icatis Exodus._ The tornado separated Goop from his anti-gravity projector and rendered him helpless. However, Ben managed to hit the Omnitrix button beforehand and transform into Stinkfly. He shot streams of goo at Gwen, who back flipped over all of them. Ben then attempted to fly away, but Gwen cried _Facio Gravis_, which increased the gravity on Ben and forced him to make a crash-landing on the floor.

"Have you had enough yet?" asked Gwen.

"Not even close. This would actually be a great training exercise if it wasn't so serious," replied Ben as he struggled to pick himself off the floor. Ben transformed into CharmAlien and went into camouflage mode.

"I can still track you even if I can't see you," said Gwen.

"I'm not running away. I'm just attacking in a new direction," Ben said as he made for the exit. Gwen blocked off the exit with a dome of mana, but Ben slipped through the cracks as Nanomech without being seen. He entered a storage closet and called Rook on his cell phone.

"Hey Rook! Where are you? I need your help!"

"What is it Ben. Are you hurt?"

"Not yet, but Gwen, Kevin and Grandpa Max have turned on me. They want to sell me to the Incurseans in exchange for Earth's safety."

"No! That cannot be true!"

"It is true. Can you get to Plumber HQ to help me out? I've knocked out Kevin and Grandpa Max, but Gwen's still searching for me. It's only a matter of time before she finds me."

"I will see what I can do, but do not get your hopes up. I am still on the Incursean ship and it is going to take at least thirsty minutes for me to get to you, even with my proto-truck."

"I have to go! I can hear Gwen approaching."

"Good luck Ben! I hope you do not kill any of them. They are still our partners after all."

"Come out cousin! I know you're in there!" said Gwen.

"How right you are," Ben agreed as he appeared. Gwen yelled _Silicus Miles Sasitatio._ Four rock creatures appeared and wrestled Ben to the ground.

"Now I've got you where I want you," said Gwen.

"Could've fooled me," replied Ben as he absorbed the creature's energy by transforming into Chromastone._ Eradico_ Gwen shouted and a sphere of mana encased Chromastone. Ben simply dissolved the sphere and transformed into Terraspin, who blew Gwen onto the ceiling. Gwen muttered _Tardis Motis_ and made the strong winds disappear. Finally, Ben had enough.

"I swore I wouldn't hurt you, but I'm getting tired of this," Ben said. He transformed into Ultimate Echo-Echo and unleashed his sonic boom on Gwen. Gwen conjured up heavy-duty ear muffs to block out the noise.

"Hah! You'll have to do better than that!" she said.

"Then try and block this!" Ben said as he transformed into Way Big and readied his ray beam. Gwen conjured up a shield, but the shield started to crack under the strain. She decided to do a teleportation spell that removed her from the beam's path. The beam left a giant crater fifty feet in diameter. Ben looked into it in shock.

"What have I done?" he moaned. "I've killed my favorite cousin!"

"Relax. You haven't killed me just yet," replied Gwen.

She went full Anodite and paralyzed Way Big by striking his only weak spot, the red fin on the back of his head. For the next half hour, Ben and Gwen fought, each countering the other's moves. Ben cycled through every single alien on his Omnitrix except for two: Atomix and Alien X. He decided to use them now.

"Oh boy. I'm exhausted. How about we just call this a draw and forget it ever happened," offered Gwen.

"I've got a few more aliens up my sleeve," replied Ben.

"Ah, I see. Are you planning on transforming into Atomix and wiping me out?" asked Gwen.

"Well, of course I wouldn't! The most I would do would be to render you unconscious."

"I'd like to see you try."

"You asked for it!" Ben transformed into Atomix and prepared his attack. He chose watered down version on his ultimate attack, just powerful enough to level an entire city and kill everyone in it.

"HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA-HA… Nuclear Winner!" Ben cried. At the same time, Gwen shouted _Presidium_, creating a gigantic dome of mana to protect her, Grandpa Max and Kevin from the blast. When the smoke cleared, Plumber HQ was in ruins. The only standing part of the building was the bathroom in which President Obama took refuge in.

Ben reverted back to normal, utterly exhausted. Gwen lowered her shield and smiled at Ben.

"Nice job Ben. I never knew you could do that!"

"Thanks. Does that mean we're best buds again?"

"Think again! I'm still not done with you just yet."

"Come on Gwen. I'm tired, you're tired. I almost killed you with that last attack. Don't make me do something else I'm going to regret later."

"Huh? What else can you do? You've cycled through every one of your aliens. There's nothing left for you to transform into."

"You're forgetting about my most powerful alien."

"Hah! Alien X? Sure you can do just about anything with that one, but you'll have to convince Serena and Bellicus to help you. Fat chance of that happening."

"I can get them to remove your powers, leaving you defenseless."

"You wouldn't dare! You need my help to deal with Milleous!"

"What?! So you guys weren't going to sell me out after all?"

"Nope. We just wanted you to think that. It was quite fascinating to see your reaction, you know."

Kevin and Max woke up.

"Hey Ben! Did Gwen tell you about the trick we played on you?" asked Max.

"That wasn't funny Grandpa. You guys almost got killed."

"Well, it was a good sparring session, wasn't it Tennyson?" asked Kevin.

"It was all right. Just don't pull one on me like that while acting so serious! I thought it was for real!" (Cue the hugs and kisses).

"We can all get along well now?" asked Obama as he walked back into what was left of the room.

"Let me guess. You knew about this all along, didn't you?" asked Ben.

"Yup. That's why I took a two hour trip to the loo. I knew it was the safest place on this base to hide in while you four engaged in a three on one. Then, just as you guys were about to kill each other, I would walk in with a peace offer."

"Well you were too late. We made up a few minutes before you walked in."

"I hadn't counted on you dragging on the battle for so long Ben."

"Skip the chitchat. What's the new plan?" asked Max.

"While I was in the loo, I was informed by the Secretary of State that we have formed a United States in Exile or as I like to call it, USE. Also, the world community has formed the new United Nations, as the old one is currently occupied by Millious."

"Where is it?" Ben asked.

"Both the USE and the UN have their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. We have asked the UN to recognize the USE as the sole legitimate government of the United States. This requires a vote by the Security Council, which we are not a part of. Heck, we aren't even a member yet. I need you four to come with me to rally support for our membership."

"That's all good, but how are we going to get there? The Incurseans have confiscated all our Plumber ships," said Max.

"I've still got Air Force One."

"Yeah, well none of us know how to fly a plane," said Gwen.

"Allow me," said Rook.

Five minutes later, everyone was aboard Air Force One, nervously approaching the Incursean blockade.

"Halt! Turn this plane around or prepare to be shot down!" demanded Princess Attea.

"I don't think so!" replied Gwen. She chanted and the plane disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Attea demanded.

"I have no idea. They just vanished," replied a technician.

"Oh well, I'll just tell daddy we obliterated them."

"He won't like being told lies."

"What daddy doesn't know won't kill him," Attea replied.

The White House

"Incursean forces have shot down a Boeing 747 believed to be carrying Ben Tennyson and company. There appear to be no survivors," reported Will Harangue.

"Excellent. Now that I'm rid of Ben Tennyson, I can begin phase two: world domination," crowed Millious.

"Um sir, you might want to look at this," said a soldier.

"What is it?" Millious snapped.

"Your daughter never destroyed the plane. It just disappeared on its own."

"Argggh! FIND ME THAT PLANE YOU NUMSKULLS!" Milleous raged.

Geneva, Switzerland, UN HQ

Air Force One landed safely on the tarmac at Geneva International and six people walked out.

"Escort us immediately to the UN," Obama said.

"And who might you me sir?" the chauffeur asked.

"I am Barrack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States and I am currently on the run from alien forces."

"I see. Get in Mr. President." Everyone piled into the limo and sped towards the temporary UN building. The Secretary of State met them at the entrance to the compound.

"Come on. The world is about to vote on our fate," he said.

The UN General Secretary was tally up votes for the inclusion of the USE into the UN.

"Fifteen for, zero against."

He turned to the Secretary of State. "Congratulations. You are now a part of the UN community.

The delegate from France spoke up. "I vote we give the newest member a seat on the Security Council."

"I second it," said the delegate from Great Britain.

"Motion passes. It is time to vote…now," said the Secretary General.

Moments later, the USE was given a permanent seat on the Security council.

"As is customary, I invite the leader of the new member state to make a speech. Mr. Obama, would you be so kind to do so?"

Obama stepped on the podium to deliver his speech.

"As all of you know, an alien invader has taken over the United States. He is a brutal tyrant who only wishes to exploit our resources. I call on all nations to assist us in driving out this madman. Remember, it is us today. It may be you tomorrow."

"I call a vote on the use of force to liberate the United States," cried the delegate to China. Russia quickly seconded.

"The motion passes with everyone for and none against," said the Secretary General.

Afterwards, Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled President Obama aside.

"I want you to know all our previous hostilities have been put aside while you deal with this crisis. We stand ready to assist you in any form you require, including using our nuclear weapons on your behalf."

"Thank you for your assistance Mr. President," replied President Obama.

"Max," Obama said, "I need you to find a way to broadcast to the American people back home without Millieous noticing. We'll need all the help we can get."

"I'm on it. My granddaughter can hack into anything."

Will their rallying of support actually work? Stay tuned for part 4, where you can find out. The ultimate showdown approaches… Also, don't hesitate to tell me what you think of the story so far! What do you want me to do for the next chapter?


	4. Rising Tensions

**Incursean Invasion-Part 4**

Recap: As it turned out, Gwen, Kevin and Max haven't turned traitor. The whole scheme was to buy enough time for the gang to get to the temporary UN headquarters in Geneva to rally world support for an Allied invasion to recapture the United States. President Obama has just asked to contact the citizens of the U.S to organize and underground resistance movement.

Geneva, Switzerland

"Are you almost done, Gwen?" Max asked.

"I think I have it. I just need a few more seconds," replied Gwen. Suddenly, the satellite beeped twice and a message appeared on the computer screen that read: ACCESS GRANTED.

"Yes! We're now live across every single living room in America!" Gwen exclaimed.

"So Milleous can see this too?" asked Ben and Max at the same time.

"Well, I managed to jam his signal so he can't see what we're broadcasting. But other than that, we're all set."

"Take it away Mr. President," Max said to President Obama.

Obama walked up to the monitor and began to speak. "Good evening, my fellow Americans. Many of you may think I am a coward for running away at a time when the country needs me the most. I assure you that that is not the case. Rather, the measure was for my own safety to ensure a continuity of government in case of emergency, which this certainly qualifies as such. As we speak, I am looking into all possible measures, both diplomatic and dramatic in nature to resolve the crisis. I ask of you in return to do all you can to disobey the new government through peaceful means- protests, marches, etc. However, do not do anything that is illegal under our own Constitution. That means no rioting, looting or attacking the police. I'll end with a quote from Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Thank you and God Bless these United States!"

Obama turned to Gwen. "Now I need you to establish a direct link to the White House. I wish to speak directly with the new leader."

The link was established. A bored voice came through on the other end. "Hello Earthling scum. To whom do I give the honor of speaking to his majesty supreme?"

"Is this Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, blah,blah, blah?" asked Obama. "This is the currently elusive 44th President of the United States

"How dare you mock my office!"

"Your office? I kindly remind you that I was the rightful President before you came and usurped me."

"Enough of this! What do you want? I don't have all day to talk to deposed leaders, you know!"

"You shall end your conquest right now or suffer the consequences!"

"Hah! You expect me to believe that? What are you going to do? Complain to the UN?"

"As a matter of fact, I already have. But that's not the point. The point is, if you don't remove yourself from my country within 48 hours, we will have no choice but to use force."

"You and what army? Oh right. You have no army!"

"Oh there'll be an army all right. An army made of millions, even billions of people. I'll be keeping in touch with you to see that you meet the deadline."

"Where are you right now?"

"Where do you think the new UN is? It's in Switzerland!"

"Enjoy your last minutes of existence then. How does it feel to be the leader of a hopeless country."

"Wo! I feel good!"

"I'll put an end to your endless pop culture references!" Millious slammed down the phone.

"Ok. Diplomacy is out of the picture. Now what?"

"Time to crush some Incursean toads!" screamed Kevin.

"Hold your horses son," said Obama.

"I do not believe Kevin has any horses to hold," exclaimed Rook. Ben gave him a look.

"We should totally enroll you in the American Education system when we re-conquer America," Gwen said.

"Aggh! Too many years learning about useless Earth expressions! Why not say, it's raining hard instead of, it's raining cats and dogs?" asked Rook.

"No idea," said Ben.

"Guys. I hate to interrupt your fascinating discussion of our failing educational system, but we have more pressing matters at hand," chimed in President Obama.

"What is it?" asked Max.

"Milleous said he was going to nuke this place to stop me from regaining control."

"It's hero time then!" Ben declared.

"Ben, you take Gwen and protect this facility. Everyone else, run to the bomb shelters," ordered Max.

"I can handle it on my own," said Ben.

"No you're not! We're family and that means we stick together!" exclaimed Gwen.

"I'm with you too!" said Kevin.

"What can you do that I don't know of?" asked Ben and Gwen, who were both surprised.

"I can absorb anything remember? That includes lead. And as we all know, lead blocks radiation."

"And I was worried about you passing your GED…" muttered Gwen.

As there were no fall-out shelters in Geneva, Rook had everyone dig trenches to hide in. Gwen cast her _Presidium_spell to protect them from the blast. Ben transformed into Murk Upchuck and prepared to swallow the missile.

USS Kitty Hawk

"Sir, we've just receive orders from Emperor Milleous to attack the UN headquarters in Geneva," said a sailor.

"And why would we do that? Tell the battle crew to ignore that order. I repeat, do not fire on Geneva," ordered the captain. Alarms suddenly began to blare.

"Sir, missile #24 is on its way to the launch silo!"

"Abort now! Under no circumstances will we attack an ally."

"Sir, we can't do anything. The abort command isn't working! I've lost control of the weapon!"

"Use the manual over-ride!"

"That isn't working either. The best I can do is to alter the missile's path by a few miles."

"Go do that then! Every mile means lives saved." The technician came back a few minutes later.

"Turns out that didn't work either. The missile is launching right now. There's nothing we can do except watch and pray."

With a roar and a burst of flames, the missile arced out of the silo on the submarine.

"Lord have mercy on those poor people!" the captain exclaimed.

"Sir, the President is in Geneva, you know?"

"Can this day get any worse?"

Geneva

"Ben, I've got a fix on that missile. 46.2000° N, 6.1500° E. Impact time is five minutes," reported Gwen.

"Preparing for interception…" responded Ben.

The missile plummeted from the sky without warning. Ben barely had time to swallow the missile before it exploded in his mouth. Luckily, Kevin ran over and covered Ben with lead to protect the latter from the radiation and Gwen managed to encase Ben in a sphere of mana to isolate him ( Murk Upchuck is not affected by explosions).

"That was too close for comfort. Nice job kids!" exclaimed Max.

"I shall bestow upon you three the Medal of Honor," said President Obama.

"I thought only military personnel could receive those. We don't qualify," said Gwen.

"Rules can be bended under extreme circumstances. You three have clearly demonstrated actions above and beyond the call of duty. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mass protest to orchestrate." Obama turned again to the live broadcast to his fellow Americans.

"Greetings. It is time now to gather in the streets to demand change. Do whatever needs to be done to get Milleous' attention. Good luck!"

Ferguson, Missouri

"Hey! You there! Stop in the name of his majesty Emperor Milleous!" screamed an Incursean Death-Squad member.

"Is walking on the sidewalk now a crime?" asked Jamal Harris.

"No, but you forgot to kiss the statue of Emperor Milleous before you stepped into the crosswalk."

"Screw your Emperor's rules! I have green hair."

"I don't care what color hair you have. You can't disrespect our savior Emperor Lord Milleous."

"I can do whatever I want." Harris began to walk away.

"Hey! Get back here! I'm not done ranting!"

"Whatever." Harris continued walking.

"I'll arrest you if you don't stop!"

"You can do that only if you catch me," taunted Harris as he began to run.

The Death-Squad member aimed is blaster set to stun at Harris. The teen's knees buckled and he collapsed the ground right in front of his house.

"Enough. You win! Don't shoot me!" exclaimed Harris.

"You know what? I think I will because I find you annoying." The next shot seemingly vaporized the teen.

"Nooooooo!" his family screamed as they ran out of the house. They saw the tattered clothing and feared the worst.

"You killed my child, you sick freak!" screamed the mother.

"I was only doing my job, which is to execute people who refuse to accept the rule of Emperor Milleous."

As one, the family rushed the officer and beat him up. Broken and battered, the officer retreated to his headquarters. A crowd soon gathered at the headquarters of the Death-Squad in Ferguson and vandalized the place.

White House

"Sir, are you seeing this? You know, the riots in Ferguson?" an aide asked.

"I do," replied Milleous.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I want a ban on all unsanctioned demonstrations and the arrest of all people who have vandalized the Death-Squad headquarters and beaten up its officers. This should be broadcast on Will Harangue Nation. I shall accept a demonstration in front of the White House to hear the people's grievances, but I haven't decided what to do with them after," said Milleous.

All across the United States

"Attention comrades, Emperor Milleous has just issued Presidential Decree # 3, which bans all unsanctioned demonstrations. As such, you must cease all public gatherings of more than 200 people or suffer the consequences. Anyone who wishes to bring grievances to his majesty can do so next Tuesday in front of the White House. Furthermore, all acts of rioting and looting will not be tolerated. It is advised that you remain indoors. Remember, stay safe to live long! Glory to Lord Emperor Milleous! This has been Will Harangue Nation."

Meanwhile…back in Geneva

"Hmm, seems like the insurrection wasn't a total failure. Although it had to end, the protestors are allowed a demonstration at the White House," reported Max as he switched off the T.V.

"Excellent! So, when can I get my job back?" asked Obama.

"We do not know the status of the Incursean Army. The armed struggle may take many years," replied Rook.

"Years?! I'm close to the end of my second term. I don't have time to wait for a war to end!" Obama exclaimed.

"Relax, Mr. President. I'm sure Rook was just exaggerating."

"All my comments are as close to fact as can be. I do not exaggerate anything."

"No wonder you have no sense of humor, Rook. You take things way too seriously," said Ben.

"The situation at hand has no place for humor," Rook said.

"He's right," Max said. "We need to concentrate on how to get back into the U.S."

"We can discuss that later, after we've established a rebel group in the U.S. I'm counting on those back home to split the U.S in two. That way, it will be easier to make our way back. Until then, we'll have to stay here," said Obama.

"Great! Where are we going to stay for the next few days? I don't want to stay in the UN compound forever. The toilets are always clogged up!" complained Ben.

"Excuse me. I have to talk to Milleous again. His 48 hours are up," said Obama as he left the room.

"Relax Ben. I've already researched this. There's a hotel about 2 miles from the UN compound," said Gwen.

"Is it a five star one?" asked Ben.

"Anything's ok as long as I get to put my car in a garage," chimed in Kevin.

"It's a one star. Yeah, I know that sucks. However it's about to get much worse. We only have enough money for five rooms, which means one of us will have to share a room with someone else. Obviously President Obama gets his own room." said Gwen.

"Ok. Me and Rook in a room then," said Ben.

"We can't have that. The cleaning maid might get freaked out by Rook. He'll have to stay in his own room."

"Are you hinting that you and I will have to share a room?" asked Ben.

"Exactly," said Gwen. "It wasn't my first choice, but what can we do?"

"In that case, I choose the floor. You can sleep on the bed."

"Really? I don't recall you being so generous. What made you change?"

"One word: puberty," said Kevin.

Both cousins turned red. "Ok, I'll go make the reservations right now," said Gwen to get out of the embarrassing situation.

"And I'll go unpack our stuff. The rest of you stay here," said Max.

A couple of hours later…

"All right, I think that's the last bag," huffed Fourarms as he set down the final four suitcases on the floor of the suite. He then transformed back to Ben.

"Good lord! Would you look at the time! It's almost 12:00 midnight. You guys better go get some sleep. I'll take the first watch," said Max.

"And why do we need one?" asked Ben.

"Because doofus, the President is here! Someone could try and take him out while we're here," exclaimed Gwen.

"I knew that, ok."

"Time for bed! Chop-chop. And no funny business from any of you, do you hear me?" asked Max.

"Don't even go there Gramps," said Ben. "We're all responsible teenagers."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"Enough said. Good night!" said Ben.

"Good night to you too, Ben!"

"Cheerio mate!" said Rook. "Yes, I've been learning to speak like a Brit. You Americans are so informal."

They all retired to their respective rooms for the night. As promised, Ben slept on the floor and the awkward night passed without incident.

Meanwhile across the Atlantic… (3 hours back on Tuesday, October 28, 2014)

In front of the White House

"Hands up! Don't shoot! What do we want? Justice! We do we want it? Now!" The chant echoed across the White House grounds. Emperor Milleous soon grew tired of it. He stepped out in front of the balcony.

"What do I have to do to get you to stop protesting?" he asked.

"We want justice for Jamal! And to do that we need a fair legal system! And to have that, we need democracy!" And then the people began to sing.

Do you hear the people sing?  
Singing a song of angry men?  
It is the music of a people  
Who will not be slaves again!  
When the beating of your heart  
Echoes the beating of the drums  
There is a life about to start  
When tomorrow comes!

"Fine! You want democracy? I'll give you democracy! A referendum will be held tomorrow to determine whether or not to split the DPRM into two along the Mississippi River. The West half will have its own government and will be completely free from my control Anyone who wishes to migrate to the West may do so. I'm only doing so because I'm tired of hearing your complaints over and over again!" screamed Milleous. At this the people cheered and dispersed, sure that by tomorrow, they would be separate from Milleous.

"Fools! I'm still in control here. Nothing will change that!" Milleous roared.

Hotel in Geneva

Ben woke up to find Gwen on top of him. "What the devil!" he yelled.

"Sorry about that Ben. I must have rolled off the bed. I'm just so tired." She untangled herself from her cousin.

"Were you up all night again? I thought gramps told us to go to bed."

"I checked the Will Harangue Network. Apparently Milleous is holding a referendum on secession. If it succeeds, the Western half of the country will no longer be controlled by him."

"Awesome! So now it's time to go back and reclaim our country!"

"That's right, Ben!"

"Wait till I tell Gramps, Rook and Kevin!"

"They already know. In fact only President Obama doesn't know."

"Why? He should be the first one to know!"

"I couldn't find him! Everyone is looking for him. It seems as though the President just vanished!"

"It seems like you guys didn't look closely enough," the President said with a huge grin on his face. "I wasn't on the hotel floor. I was in the kitchen making breakfast."

"I highly doubt this hotel's food is even edible. I mean, it doesn't even have a kitchen staff. You have to service yourself!" said Ben.

"Now that I think about it, you're right," said Obama. "I was up for an hour making what I thought were pancakes."

"What were they really?" Gwen and Ben asked, interested.

"Let's not talk about it. Luckily, I have enough money for a McDonald's stop."

"Hold it! You're the President. People are supposed to serve you, not the other way around. We can't accept your money!" said Ben.

"Well, if you'd rather go without breakfast…" said Gwen.

"On second thought, I'll take it. Let's go wake the others."

On the way to the McDonalds, Max filled President Obama in on the referendum.

"By all accounts, the 'yes' vote should succeed. If it does, we can go back to the Western half by tomorrow."

"That's great!"

After they had all eaten at McDonalds, they all returned to the UN to brief the world community on the recent developments.

"We are all Americans today," the French delegate declared. Every delegate voted to send help to the U.S. Meanwhile, the results from the referendum were being announced.

Referendum Day (November 4th, 2014)

"And the results are in! With 60,567,450 votes for yes and 57,986,453 for no, the secession vote is a resounding yes. The Western half of the DPRM is now independent. Presidential elections will be held tomorrow to decide the leader of the yet unnamed country, population: 250,000,000. This is Will Harangue Nation, which unfortunately, will not be able to be broadcast in the new country. It's time to say '_Au Revoir'_ for folks on the West coast to the best in news, proudly serving the Milleous government for about three months now."

Presidential Election 2014

"Joe Biden is the new President of the U.S with 50.01% of the vote!" CNN declared.

"Thank you all for voting for me! I promise to win back the Eastern United States so we can once again be called the_ United_ States. For now, let us be known as the Disbanded States of 22 or DS22," announced Biden. "I have also terminated all relations with the DPRM. For our purposes, we are now enemies with them."

UN Headquarters

The election results as well as Biden's Inauguration speech were broadcast live on the jumbotron. President Obama immediately called the former VP.

"Congrats Mr. President!"said Obama.

"There's no need sir. I've learned it all from you."

"Oh, don't be modest! A victory is a victory all the same. Now when can we get back to the DS22?"

"Are you bringing any troops with you? Most of the generals went missing. We think Milleous took them to wreck our war effort. Those who are left aren't competent enough."

"Troops won't be a problem. I was told I could borrow the troops from the other countries as I saw fit. As for a skilled Commander of the Army, I'll see what I can do."

"You'd better hurry. War could break out any day now." Biden hung up the phone. Obama took Max, Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Rook out of the conference room to talk in private.

"I need a Commander and fast. Who's up to the task?"

"Grandpa Max!" Ben and Gwen said instantly.

"I'm sorry, but he's far too old. Anyone else?"

"Ben, you could be a Commander!" said Gwen.

"Me? I'm way too young and I don't have any leadership experience."

"You've been leading me and Gwen on missions ever since like one year ago," said Kevin. "I think that qualifies as experience."

"You are a natural leader Ben. We all know that," said Rook.

"Even if I was, how am I going to get the military experience I need in a few days time?"

"Hmm, that's a hard one."

"Allow me," a voice said. An old man with spectacles suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"Professor Paradox?! What are you doing here," Everyone except for President Obama shouted.

"Who is this man?" He politely asked.

"Ok, this is going to sound crazy," said Ben.

"Oh, I know crazy from being around you guys for about a week," said Obama.

"This man can travel through time. So that's why he's a paradox, for he can never age."

"How right you are my dear Ben! And that is exactly what you're going to do! I shall take you all on a journey through time to learn the strategies that you must know to win the upcoming showdown. But be warned, unlike previous times, you can alter history with your actions and you can also die. Therefore, I would advise the President and Max Tennyson to remain behind." said Paradox.

"All right! The dream team is back in action! Just you, me, Gwen, Kevin and Rook on a journey through history to save the present day!" exclaimed Ben.

Paradox opened up a time portal to the first time period. "After you my friends!" he said.

They all looked back at Max and President Obama. "See you guys in a bit!"

"Bon voyage and Godspeed!"

So… how is that for a dramatic plot twist? Do you like the time travel idea? Review please! (Lyrics are from Les Miz and the Ferguson scene is inspired by real events…)


	5. Ancient Greece-480 BC

**Incursean Invasion-Part 5**

Recap: Ben, Gwen and Kevin have agreed to Professor Paradox's plan to travel through time to learn from experience what it takes to become a leader. Little do they know the trouble they are getting themselves into.

Note: The next few chapters will focus entirely on Ben's adventures through the time stream. Some items are anachronisms meaning they did not exist yet during the time period in which Ben, Gwen and Kevin are traveling through.

"Ok young Tennysons and Kevin E. Levin, time to step into the portal and save mankind," said Paradox.

"Where are how far back are we headed?" asked Gwen.

"Oh, it'll be like two hours ago for me. For you guys, not so much. Anywho, the first destination will be the plains of Thermopylae, Greece, the site of an extremely important battle between the Greeks and the Persians, in the year 480 B.C. "

"And how would going back so far in time help me become an effective strategist?" asked Ben. "Their techniques are obsolete."

"A common misconception, my young friend. The ancients were just as smart as and probably even smarter than the people of today."

"And what am I supposed to learn there? How to stab someone with a spear and throw a few rocks?" asked Ben.

"Well, that and a thing I like to call tactic. You'll be figuring out all sorts of strategies on your journeys," said Paradox.

"Wait, you won't tell me what I'm supposed to be figuring out?"

"That's for you to decide on your own."

"And if I happen to pick up the wrong strategy?"

"That's why you have your friend and cousin here to support you."

"Ha! He called you a loser!" jeered Kevin.

"Cut it out! No one makes fun of my cousin except for me and I don't do that anymore!" said Gwen.

"As long as we get back in time for lunch. I left on partially empty stomach 'cuz I only ate like the Big Breakfast Platter from McDonalds," said Kevin.

"Time travel is strange. You can go back in time for weeks and when you come back, only a few hours would have passed. Trust me, I've been doing this for eons," said Paradox.

"Can we get going now? We kind of have a universe to save here?" said Gwen, impatiently.

"I haven't told you the most important fact yet. It is crucial that you listen to me on this: pick the losing side in this battle," said Paradox.

"And why on earth would I do that? I'm Ben Tennyson! I play to win!"

"This time, you'll die if you do that."

"Paradox is right on this one, Ben. You have to listen to him," said Gwen.

"No way! I do things my own way!"

"I can't bear to see you die. You're my cousin and that means we've gotta protect each other. Please Ben, if you're not doing this for Paradox, at least do it for me," pleaded Gwen.

"Whatever."

"Professor Paradox, can I speak with you for a moment in private?" asked Gwen.

"Of course you can, Ms. Tennyson," Paradox replied as he followed her a few hundred feet to a bench.

"Am I allowed to do magic? I mean it could alter history and of course, we don't want that."

"Only in the most dire of circumstances, such as to protect yourself, Ben or Kevin. Don't alter the events even if your side is losing. You can always teleport out of there back to the portal should events prove that to be necessary."

"Got it."

"Good. We must get going if Kevin is going to make it back here for lunch." Paradox and Gwen walked back to Ben and Kevin.

"So, are you going to tell us if we're on the Greek or Persian side?" asked Ben as soon as he saw Paradox approach.

"That too is for you to figure out."

"So you're going to leave me stranded without a clue as to what I'm supposed to find, fighting a losing battle against an enemy I know nothing about?"

"Pretty much. I thought it would be both fun and educational, which reminds me. I could've taken you to the History Museum in D.C to learn about this.

"Even a trip to the museum would be better than getting killed on the battlefield," said Ben and Kevin together.

"I agree. I hate the sight of blood. That's why you'll never see me be a doctor," said Gwen.

Why can't we go to the History Museum?" asked the trio.

"Oh, it will soon be turned into a pile of rubble by Milleous, who doesn't want any evidence of human existence. Ever since that referendum, he's been destroying all traces of civilization and transforming the capital into one giant fortress," said Paradox.

"Dang it, my day is ruined," said Ben.

"You can still have a bright ending if you go through that portal I created," Paradox said, smiling.

"What portal- Oh, that one," said Ben, noticing the blue orb of energy right next to him.

"We better get a move on people!" Gwen exclaimed.

"I'll be here waiting. Call me if you need anything."

"We'll be back soon. Don't worry," the trio said.

"Good luck!" Ben, Gwen and Kevin stepped through the portal. Ben saw history fly by his very eyes. Obama was elected President. A plane flew into the Twin towers. Al Gore invented the Internet. The Berlin Wall fell. The USA dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. Germany invaded Poland. The Stock Market crashed Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. The Titanic sank in the Atlantic. Centuries whizzed on by. Finally, they arrived in 480 B.C.

Athens, Greece, 480. B.C

Everyone ok?" Ben shouted.

"We're fine!" Gwen and Kevin replied.

"Any idea what side we're on?" Ben asked.

Gwen suddenly gasped. "Oh-My-God, I think we're all naked!"

Ben looked down. "Gah! Nobody look at me!"

"Let's just run to the nearest uniform facility and get some clothes," Kevin said.

"Great idea. The only problem is, we don't know where that is!" screeched Ben.

"Everyone start in a different direction and walk for a few minutes. If we're lucky, there ought to be some storeroom around here," suggested Gwen.

"Great idea. We'll meet up in 10 minutes," said Ben and Kevin.

The three teens began to walk blindly around with their eyes tightly shut. Soon, Gwen bumped into something hard.

"Hey watch it! That was my leg!" Ben shouted.

"Sorry!"

Kevin had some more success. After miraculously avoiding his two teammates, he wandered up a hill and onto an abandoned cottage. Inside, he found a chest full of clothing. He took out a pair, put them on and started to lug the chest back to Ben and Gwen, who were still wandering around aimlessly.

"Hey you lot! I found some clothing we can wear!"

"Awesome!" Ben said as he opened his eyes and immediately shut them again for he had seen a traumatizing image. Ben and Gwen each grabbed a pair of garments, both blushing furiously.

"We are all clothed and as such I can open my eyes and not be accused of indecent exposure by my cousin, right?" Ben asked.

"Right. Now we have to join the army," Gwen said.

"And we have to pick the right one, the losing one remember?" added Kevin.

"How are we going to do that?" Ben asked.

"Well, we have 50-50 shot at getting this correct the first time. Let's just continue walking and ask the first person we see," said Gwen. They continued up the hill, passed the abandoned cottage, onto the paved road, which led to a small town.

"I hope this town is Greek," Ben said.

"Let's ask the sentry over there," Kevin said as he approached the gate.

"Hey. Where can I find the nearest army recruiting station?" Kevin inquired.

"Ποιος είσαι εσύ;" the solider asked.

"Excuse me? Didn't catch that."

"Ποιος είσαι εσύ;" the soldier repeated as he leveled his spear at Kevin.

"Whoa! Back off buddy. I'm here to do your country a great service," Kevin said as Gwen and Ben came running.

"Idiot! They don't understand English. You'll have to use those universal translators that Paradox gave us,' Gwen said. All three of them took out the translators and put them on. Now they could understand and speak every single language fluently. They turned back to the guard, who was still waiting patiently for a response, although still with spear in hand.

"Hey you strangers! What are you doing in this town?"

"We are ordinary citizens who heard about the Persian invasion of Greece. We want to join the army to help stop the threat," Kevin explained.

"All right. Go through this gate and you'll see a sign that says: Army Recruiting Station. You'll have to give them your names and submit to a physical,"

"Thank you sir," Gwen said as they walked through the gate.

"Gwen! I just thought of something,' Ben said suddenly as they were searching for the station.

"And what is that?" Gwen asked.

"They won't let you into the army because they'll find out that you're a girl. You'll have to cut your hair and look buff or something."

"Great! Does anyone see a barber shop around here?"

"I have no clue. I can't read Greek."

"Hmm. I see a sign with a pair of scissors on it. Must be the barber shop!" Gwen yelled.

"Tell you what. Kevin and I'll go sign us up under fake names while you get your hair cut."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Gwen said. She practically ran to the barber shop while Ben and Kevin shuffled forwards.

"Hello there. What do you need help with young missy?" the store owner asked her.

"Is this a barber shop? I'd like to get my hair cut."

"You want me to cut your hair with an awl? The result won't be pretty, I can assure you."

"What? This isn't a barber shop?"

"No. This is a hardware store. The finest one in all of Greece. All sorts of tools, from chisels to axes and saws."

"Um, I'm not interested in tools."

"I also am a blacksmith. I make fine weapons. Swords, axes, pikes, spears, shields, bows and arrow. You name it, I've got it."

"Actually, come to think of it, I do need some weapons. My cousin's going off to fight in the war you see, and he needs the proper equipment."

"Ahh of course. He'll need armor, a shield, a spear and a sword," the merchant said as he handed over the weapons. "By the way, how will you pay for all of this?"

"Um yeah, about that. We're really poor and we can't afford any of this. But a draft's a draft, so my cousin has to fight."

"I understand. My son was also forced to join. I received word he was killed just a few weeks ago. I heard he killed over a dozen Persians before he was overwhelmed."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I'll get over it. Here, take the weapons free of charge. It's the least I can do. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yeah. You still haven't told me where the barber is."

"Oh, he's down the street from here. I think three doors down."

"Thanks sir!" Gwen yelled as she ran down the street towards the barber.

Meanwhile back at the recruiting station…

"Names?" the recruiter asked.

"I'm Darius III, this here is my brother, Alexander the Great and my cousin, Julius Caesar, who unfortunately had to leave for an important event," Ben invented wildly.

"Ok. If I have it correctly, you are trying to register your family for the defense of Greece?"

"That's exactly right sir."

"Ok. You guys are in if you can pass this one simple task."

"And what's that?" Kevin asked.

"The task is to run across a field of stinging nettles without crying aloud. If you can prove you can endure the pain, you're in."

"And what kind of torture is this? In my country-ouch! Why'd you hit me Kev- I mean Alexander?"

"The U.S doesn't exist yet and won't for another 2000 years!" Kevin hissed.

"Yes, you were saying in your country, what?"

"Um, we do that kind of thing all the time in my country."

"And where might your country be. Sounds an awful lot like Sparta."

"Yeah! Sparta! As I was saying, I have to do that a lot in Sparta. Great country to live in , don't you think?"

"Sparta's a city-state, not a country. Are you not a learned person?"

"No I'm not. I'm an illiterate peasant who used to work on my father's farm all day before he died."

"That explains a lot. Anyways, enough chit-chat. It's time to begin your test."

"Can we wait till my cousin gets back here. He's getting his hair cut at the barber as we speak."

At the Barber's

"Let me get this straight. You want me to cut your hair so you are almost bald," the barber said.

"Yep. That's exactly what I said."

"And why would you want to look like that?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"I swear on the river Styx that I shall."

"Ok. I want to join the army."

"You? A girl?! Get out of here! You won't survive one step!"

"Just cut my hair already!"

Ten minutes later, Gwen emerged looking almost like a boy. There was only one small problem as Ben and Kevin immediately saw.

"Your chest is disproportionate to the rest of your body," Ben said laughing.

"I can't help that! Puberty happened ok?"

"We'll just say that he has a deformity that makes him look like a girl," Kevin said.

"By the way, your name is Julius Caesar. I just made up a random name. Worked out perfectly, didn't it?" Ben asked.

"Caesar wasn't even born yet, but whatever."

"Hello, are you Julius Caesar?" the recruiter asked.

"Yes sir, I am."

"Right. Your cousin already registered you. All you have to do is pass the test and all of you are in."

The four of them walked to the testing field. It was covered in nettles.

"On your mark, get set, Go!" the recruiter yelled. Gwen quickly cast a spell to block all outsiders from hearing their screams of pain. Thus, although their legs were covered in angry welts, it seemed as though they hadn't made a sound.

"Wow! You guys should try out for the Olympics! That was a new world record! You're all in!"

"Awesome. Now I get to play soldier and kill people right?" Ben asked.

"Well yes. We don't have time to train you, so you'll have to learn on the spot. Dress quickly. You must go to Sparta to meet with King Leonidas." The three changed into their cumbersome armor, shouldered their weapons and prepared to make the march to Sparta, which was estimated to take a few days at a fast pace.

Road from Athens to Sparta ≈150 miles

"So Gwen? What took you so long?" Ben asked.

"I went to the wrong store. The one with the scissors on it was hardware store. I wasted 20 minutes there chatting with the owner, who kept trying to get me to buy his weapons. I finally did, just to shut him up."

"Hahaha." Ben laughed.

Kevin suddenly collapsed on the ground and yanked on Ben's leg.

"Why don't you just teleport us? I'm dying in this armor," Kevin complained.

"No you're not."

"It's called heat stroke. Kinda hard to avoid when you've been baking outside for the past five hours!"

"Fine! I'll teleport you this time."

In a flash they landed in Sparta.

Sparta

"Hello soldiers. You must be the new recruit that Athens sent to get hands on training," a voice said.

"Huh, yeah. That's us," Be replied.

"I never expected you so early. They only sent me that report six hours ago."

"Oh, we all ran like that runner at the Battle of Marathon. You know, the guy who ran 26 miles in two hours."

"Yes, I've heard of him. Such a pity he died after delivering the news of a victory. Anyways, I'm King Leonidas of Sparta. Who are you?"

"I'm Darius III, no relation to that Persian king," Ben said.

"I'm Alexander the Great," said Kevin.

"And I'm Julius Caesar," finished Gwen.

"Pleased to meet all of you," Leonidas said. Suddenly there was a commotion outside the city gates. A sentry came in with a Persian under the white flag of truce.

"What do you want?" Leonidas asked the Persian.

"My master, King Xerxes, has demanded that you surrender or face the consequences."

"I choose to fight!"

"That is not an option."

"You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You threaten my people with slavery and death!"

"You're a madman! No one threatens a messenger!"

"Oh really?"

"This is madness!"

"Madness?... THIS IS SPARTA!".

"Ok. I'll just be going then." The messenger flees the city.

"Was that really necessary? You scared the devil out of that guy," Ben said.

"Yes. I had to get him pissed so he'd run back to Xerxes and Xerxes would try to invade us."

"So we better prepare for the defense of the city?" Gwen asked.

"No. We are meeting the Athenians on the plains of Thermopylae. I feel that the flat terrain gives us an advantage."

"And where will we be in all of this?" Kevin asked.

"You are a part of my Spartan legion. Come, we must march onwards to Thermopylae."

Plains of Thermopylae

After a long day's march, Leonidas' army finally reached Thermopylae. There they were met by the Athenian commander, Plato.

"We number no more than 20,000 troops. That is what Lord Zeus sent us and that is what we have to make battle with," Plato briefed Leonidas.

"How many Persians are we going up against?" Leonidas asked, dreading the answer.

"Anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 of the enemy."

"Good lord. This'll be the greatest slaughter in history."

"Not so. I believe we have better training and better equipment. We'll probably lose, but the Persians shall suffer greatly."

"Tell your men to get some rest. I shall do likewise. We attack at dawn tomorrow."

The Night Before

"Ok guys. Are you ready for the big one?" Ben asked.

"The one where every last one of us dies? I'd rather not think about it right now," replied Gwen.

"And I thought we'd be in and out by now. Paradox still owes me a Big Mac!" Kevin grumbled.

"Relax people. Nobody's gonna die. At the first sign of real action, I'll go hero and wipe every last Persian off the map."

"If you do that Ben, you'll be changing history. Paradox said that's extremely dangerous to do!"

"Since when did I let Paradox be the boss of me? I can do whatever I want! I always have and it's always worked out in the end."

"That's because you had me and Kevin to bail you out. There's no telling if that will happen tomorrow."

"I'm done talking. Try and get some sleep you two. It's going to be a long next few days."

The trio drifted off to sleep. In his dreams, Ben imagined turning into Waybig and annihilating the Persians.

Battle of Thermopylae-Day 3

The diary of King Leonidas of Sparta

Dear Diary,

For the past two days, my men have defended, against overwhelming odds, the Greek homeland. Every attack the Persians have launched has been repelled, with great loss of life on both sides. We have been reduced to a few thousand men, most of whom are wounded. Against us are over 50,000 troops under King Xerxes. At the sight of this vast army, our Athenian allies withdrew into the heartland, trusting us to fight a delaying action and kill as many Persians as possible before we ourselves are eventually killed. I pray to the almighty Zeus so that he may look favorably upon us and grant us the will to resist one last time. Long live Greece! I have failed my country and must now pay the price. I hope whoever finds this diary will treat it well.

Sincerely,

King Leonidas of Sparta

King Leonidas signed his name and sighed. Perhaps this was the last entry he was ever going to make. He made up his mind and decided to fight until the last man.

"Gather around me my brave warriors. Hear my final speech before I die at the hands of some obscure Persian."

The remaining members of Leonidas' army gathered around him to hear his speech.

"Are we all here?"

"No. The wounded refuse to leave their tents and have elected to commit suicide instead. We only number around three hundred," Ben said.

"Be as it may be, we shall still fight till the bitter end. I am proud to have been your commander throughout this entire campaign. Now I release you from your bondage of servitude. Do whatever you feel like doing. I will not stop you. Now it's every man for himself!"

"I say we stay and fight!" Ben yelled.

"Aye!" three hundred voices shouted.

King Leonidas mentioned for Ben to talk with him in private.

"Darius III, I have noticed your extraordinary talent for rousing my army. Perhaps you would like to take over as commander?"

"Of course sir. It would be an honor."

"I now pronounce you leader of the army of Sparta!"

"Thank you sir." Ben walked back to Gwen and Kevin.

"Listen, I just got promoted to commander."

"That's awesome!" Gwen said.

"Now you can really kick some butt!" Kevin commented.

"Listen, I don't know if I can lead you guys. Perhaps you guys can help me?"

"I saw this exact battle in the movie _300\. _Every last Greek here was slaughtered," Gwen said.

"Would you agree that I have to change history now?" Ben asked.

"I'm not so sure, but go ahead. We can't die now!" Kevin said.

"At least give the impression that you're trying to lead. Then you can transform into the one man army," Gwen said.

"I don't know any ancient battle formations! What can I do?" Ben moaned.

"Try the Phalanx formation. It was standard Greek strategy at the time," Gwen said.

"What's that?" Ben asked.

"It involves marching with your shield held in front of you to deflect any missiles launched horizontally. It is not effective against those fired parabolically."

"I bet the Persian will try that eventually. What else is there?"

"This one wasn't invented until the rise of the Roman Empire about 500 years after this battle. Besides, it probably won't work with the shields of this time period."

"Just tell me!"

"The Testudo formation was used by the Romans to counter missiles coming from all directions. It involves a group of soldiers raising their shields so that the front, back, and sides are covered. The only downsides are that it reduces mobility and fighting ability."

"Hmm. I think I'll have half of the troops do a Testudo while the other half does the Phalanx." Just then a soldier ran in.

"Darius sir. The Persian Army is advancing towards our position. We're going to lose!"

"Not if I can help it. Assemble the troops!" Ben cried.

Within seconds, all the troops were lined up and awaiting Ben's orders.

"Half of you do the Phalanx. The other half, follow my orders. I need 15 rows of 10 soldiers each. The front and back rows will cover the front and back of the formation respectively. The people on the sides will need to cover the sides of the formation. The rest of you, lift you're your shield above your heads and cover the top. This should make you immune to all the arrows," Ben said.

"And what will you be doing Ben?" whispered Gwen.

"You and Kevin will stay with me here, praying for a miracle."

To the rest of the troops, he said, "Ok everybody. Hope for a miracle! Now run at the Persians and hope you don't get killed before said miracle happens!"

The troops all ran at the advancing Persians yelling strange battle cries. Fierce hand to hand combat soon erupted and the Greeks slowly gave way under vastly superior numbers.

"Ok Ben. Ready to change history?" Gwen asked.

"You bet I am!"

"My burger depends on it!" Kevin said.

In a flash, Ben transformed into Waybig and Gwen teleported them to the site of the battle. The Persians had the Greeks encircled and were slowly tightening the noose when Ben arrived. Fewer than 100 Spartans were still alive.

"I am he who is called Waybig! I was sent by Lord Zeus to punish you Persian worms!" Waybig roared.

The Persians sent 50,000 arrows flying at him, but they simply broke against Waybig's skin.

"Hah! You did not do any damage to me! Now it is time for me to return the favor!" Waybig began to charge up his cosmic destruction ray.

"Run everybody! We cannot fight against the Gods!" screamed King Xerxes.

"It's too late! Your reign of terror has come to an end!" The cosmic ray incinerated everything for five miles including all 50,000 of Xerxes' troops. Xerxes himself was spared as was the rest of Darius' army.

"What did you do to my army?" Xerxes yelled.

"I banished them to the depths of Hades."

"Arrgh! I give up! There's no point in fighting against a God."

"Actually, there was no God. It was just me."

"What do you mean?"

Waybig transformed back to Darius III aka Ben Tennyson. "See what I mean?"

"Who are you?"

"You mean, who are we? We are time travelers from the 21st century," Gwen said.

"Time travel? That's impossible!" Xerxes snorted.

"Not if you have magic, like this." Gwen snapped her fingers and Professor Paradox suddenly appeared.

"I know you! You're that time walker that never dies!"

"You were expecting someone else?"

"I'm tired of your constant meddling!"

Xerxes turned to Ben, Gwen and Kevin. "He's been sending people back to alter the events of this battle for quite some time now. I mean it's happened like 50 times already. Every single time we've lost."

"Wow! It sure sucks to be you!" Ben said.

"Now you realize my life. It's so pointless that I want to go somewhere else."

"Like where?"

"How about with you guys? I've always wanted to see what life 26 centuries into the future looks like."

"Hmm. Professor Paradox, can we bring people from the past into our time stream?"

"I don't think a few would hurt. BUT ONLY A FEW!"

"Thanks Professor," said Gwen.

Paradox turned to Ben. "I believe you found what you were looking for?"

"Yep. First lesson to being a good leader: Always let your soldiers go into battle before you do. It cuts down on the chances of you getting killed."

"That wasn't what I had in mind, but I'm sure your strategy would work too."

"Can we go home now? I think I just missed lunch," Kevin complained.

"Nonsense! It's only 11:30 in the morning."

"Anyways, I'm hungry, so can we please go now?"

Paradox opened the portal again and him, Ben, Gwen, Kevin and King Xerxes stepped through.

UN, Geneva, Switzerland

Max beamed when he saw the trio reappear, but his smile disappeared when he saw the newcomer. "Who's this?" he asked.

"He's a Persian king who lived around 2,600 years ago. His name's King Xerxes," Gwen explained.

"Who are you old man? You look like you're about to die of old age," Xerxes said.

"I am Max Tennyson. These are my Grandkids Ben Tennyson, Gwen Tennyson and their friend, Kevin E. Levin."

"Who?"

Ben stepped in. "I used fake names to register for the army. I was Darius III, but my real name is Ben Tennyson. Gwen was Julius Caesar and Kevin was Alexander the Great. Sorry to deceive you like that."

"And where are we exactly?"

"This place is known as Geneva, Switzerland, home of the UN."

"What's that?"

"Oh, you have a bunch of things to learn about. Let we walk you through. But first I'm hungry!" said Kevin.

"Yeah! Let's go to the McDonalds on the corner. Paradox, you're paying!"

"I haven't had fast food in ages! Why should I have to pay?"

"You have all kinds of money from every century. We, on the other hand, are dead broke."

"Fine. But don't think I'll do it again, even if you ask nicely! My job is a mentor, not a piggy bank!"

The six of them all laughed and headed to the McDonalds on the corner.

How did you like it? What time period should the quartet hit next? Where in the world should they go next? Fav and review please!


	6. Chaos in the Middle Kingdom

**Incursean Invasion-Part 6**

In this part: Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Rook, Max and Xerxes travel back to ancient China to recover a revolutionary book that will teach Ben all the military strategies that he will need to know. However, finding it will not be easy as 450s B.C China is in the midst of a bloody internal conflict known as the Warring States Period!

Note: The Mandarin here is westernized.

Warning: contains graphic violence, summary executions, implied drug use, suicide and threats of suicide, death by burning, songs by Disney, drag-racing, references to real-life people and real events, references to the Harry Potter universe, disrespect of elders, swearing, attempted assassinations, successful assassinations and a major character death. Don't read if you're offended by any or all of these. The pair of asterisks is my lame attempt at character bonding. Skip it if you feel it sucks.

On the way to McDonalds, Ben suddenly realized they had forgotten a very important someone.

"What happened to President Obama, Gramps?" he asked.

"Oh. I left him in a secure location in the basement of the UN complex telling him that we'll come and get him once the war is over," Max said.

"You left him with no security?! What if the Incurseans come looking for him?" Gwen asked.

"Heck! I don't even remember where I put the President! I suppose we'll have to search for him later."

Behind them, Xerxes was gesturing at everything excitedly. "What's this?" he asked, pointing to the sidewalk where they were walking on.

"That's a road made out of cement that people can walk on," Kevin explained.

"Ah… I've heard of cement. It's that material that people put on roads to make it all smooth. Much better than paved stone."

"Anything else you want to know about?"

"What's that hunk of metal that's moving on the street?"

"That's a car. It's sorta like a mechanical chariot."

"Oooh! I have a chariot! I beat I can beat that car over there in a race!"

"That's not the best idea. I don't think-," Kevin began.

Xerxes snapped his fingers and a chariot suddenly appeared with four horses. Ben, Gwen and Max turned around.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?" Max asked.

"I think he used magic," Gwen said.

"Magic? No, there was no magic. I was just born with the ability to summon stuff," Xerxes said.

"But you can do so across time periods! That's magic!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Not so Ms. Tennyson," Paradox said, smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"Any individual, when brought to a future century, is able to summon anything from his time period that he wants to help him."

"Seems like some sort of law to me," Max said.

"In fact, it is a law. Specifically Article I, Section VI of the International Convention Regarding Time Travel or ICRTT for short."

"I've never heard of it."

"Well, that's because humans only invented time travel machines in the 22md century."

"Hello? I'm starving back here, so would you mind finishing your conversation so we can get to the McDonalds by closing time?" Kevin shouted.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Levin. I was just explaining the rules of the game, so to speak."

Have no worries my newly found friends! We can ride in the chariot and get to this McDonalds that you speak of," Xerxes said.

"Are you a certified driver?" Ben asked.

"Of course I am! I once placed first in the Olympics in Greece before I joined the Persian Army. You'll be perfectly safe with me!"

"I'm not sure. That chariot looks a bit shaky," Ben told Gwen, Max and Kevin.

"Don't be a wuss, Ben. I've got this covered," Gwen said as she grabbed Ben's arm and forced him into the chariot. Max and Kevin followed.

"Don't worry about me! I'll be waiting inside the UN for you when you come back. There's another mission you guys have to do," Paradox said as he vanished.

"Ok, Xerxes. Just drive to the restaurant with the golden M. Try not to get into any altercations with other motorists," Max warned. It was already too late.

"Hey man! I bet my four horses that you could never beat me in a race!" Xerxes yelled at a driver in a red mustang. The driver looked at him and laughed.

"You and that puny chariot? My car has got 250 horsepower!"

"What's horsepower?" Xerxes whispered to Gwen.

"It's a measure of how much power your vehicle has. That car has the equivalent of 250 horses pulling on it."

"I don't believe in numbers! I'm going to win this!" Xerxes shouted.

"The first vehicle to the next intersection wins!" the driver proclaimed. The light turned green and the race was on! The driver gunned the engine and quickly took the lead. Seeing that he was losing, Xerxes started to drive on the left side of the road.

_ Beeeep!_

"Watch it, Xerxes!" Ben yelled. "I think the Swedes drive on the right. You can't drive into oncoming traffic like that!"

"You almost gave me a heart attack," said Max.

"I have money. I can afford to pay my medical expenses," Xerxes replied as he continued to drive on the left. A semi swerved and just barely avoided the chariot.

"I'm driving!" Gwen announced. She conjured up magical reins and wrenched the car to the right. "Give me those controls!" Xerxes screamed as the two fought for control of the chariot. The chariot careened into the path of a plumbing service truck.

"Look out for that oddly familiar truck!" Ben screamed.

"It's the proto-truck!" Gwen yelled. "Rook! Look out!"

"What am I looking out for, Gwen?" Rook yelled.

"We're going to hit you!" Gwen screamed.

"If you wreck my chariot, you'll pay big time!" Xerxes swore.

"Not if I can help it!" Ben said. He quickly transformed into Bloxx and physically separated the chariot from the proto-truck while blocking all lanes of traffic. Kevin jumped out, covered himself in cement and ran to the front of the chariot, acting as a makeshift front bumper. The chariot stopped just after bumping into Bloxx. Rook got out of the truck, shaken but unhurt. Bloxx transformed back into Ben and everyone else got out of the chariot.

"Why did I even let you drive? You almost got us killed!" Max scolded Xerxes.

"Hey! I didn't sign up for 21st century driving. I was made for 4th century B.C chariot racing! Back then, we had no such thing as rules of the road!" Xerxes countered.

"You are not driving then until you become accustomed with the 21st century," Max decided. He walked over to Rook. "Are you all right son?"

"I am fine Magister Tennyson. Thank you for your concern."

"Hey Rook! Where were you?" Ben asked.

"Magister Tennyson sent me on patrol duty, which happened to take me to the Burger Shack. I got you all burgers and chili fries."

"Thanks Rook! You're much better than my former teammates here," Ben mentioned to Gwen and Kevin, "They wouldn't let me eat that stuff!"

"You know, Ben, it was for your own good. Too much junk food is bad for you, especially when you're going through puberty," Gwen said.

"Your point is? You're the same age as me. We're both 17."

"Whatever. I suppose we could indulge a bit. It's been forever since I had this stuff!" Gwen exclaimed as she began to hungrily devour her portion.

"So Ben, what have you been up to?" Rook asked.

"I waz goin through tim nd learning de art uff military strategee," Ben tried to say as he chomped on 20 fries at a time.

"Come again? What did you say you were doing?"

"I said, I was going through time and learning the art of military strategy."

"Ben didn't actually learn anything. It was just something he said to satisfy Paradox," Kevin corrected.

"Excuse me? I did learn not to be at the front of your troops when attacking the enemy," Ben retorted.

"If you count relearning how to be a coward as learning then I suppose so," Kevin said.

"Cut it out you two! Would you mind going back in time to help us out?" Max asked.

"Of course sir. Anything to help defeat Milleous."

As soon as they were done, Rook drove them all back to the UN, where Paradox was waiting for them.

"Back again? I trust that your lunch went well?"

"It was lousy in more ways than one," said Kevin.

"That's too bad. Anywho, I have a very special mission for you all. If you complete this one successfully, Ben will have all the resources he needs to lead the rebellion. Of course, you'll still need to go back in time to practice those strategies."

"What's the mission?" Ben asked.

"I'm getting to that. You are to go to ancient China a retrieve a sacred book."

"A book? You're kidding, right? How is a book going to help me defeat Milleous?"

"It's not just any old book. This book is considered the greatest books on military strategy ever published. Generals throughout history have used it. In fact, it is required reading for anyone who wants to join the U.S military."

"If it's that famous, then why don't we go to the local library and borrow one?"

"That's not possible. You'll have to go directly to the source and get it yourself. To make this more interesting, I'm not going to tell you what the book is called or who wrote it. You'll have to figure that all out on your own."

"Come on Paradox! The world is at stake here! Why can't you just tell us the title already? Then we could at least have a chance of finding it."

"At least one of your party already knows the name of the book."

"That's a great help! How do we know who the person is?"

"All will reveal itself shortly, but first, I must take Xerxes here on a trip to the 22nd century to learn about your century," Paradox said as he pulled Xerxes into the time portal. Ten minutes later, Xerxes came out babbling about all the wondrous things he had learned.

"Did you know that to time travel, you just need to travel faster than the speed of light, which is currently impossible, but will be achieved in the next 50 years?"

"Yeah, we know," Kevin said.

"I bet you don't know that humans will one day live on Mars!"

"Never cared about that and I never will," Ben replied. Paradox reappeared.

"Is Xerxes bothering you?"

"Yes he is! Can we leave him here with you?" Ben asked.

"No. He's essential to finding the book."

"Ah ha!" Gwen shouted, "He knows what the book is called!"

"How did you deduce that?" Ben asked.

"I put two and two together."

"And you came up with five. I'm not telling you if he actually knows or not, so your plan failed! Here's the portal to China! Good luck!" The six heroes stepped into the portal. The world spun. Everyone screamed and lost consciousness.

Ancient China-450 B.C

Ben groggily opened his eyes. _Where am I, he thought._

_Clang! Clang!_

"Wake up Oogway! You're late to the Shaolin Temple! Master Shifu expected you to be there at noon sharp, but it's already 11 A.M and you're still not ready!"a shrill voice said.

"Go away, Gwen, and let me sleep," Ben groaned.

"Who's Gwen? You have girlfriend already? I told you no girlfriend!"

"Yes, I have a girlfriend, but it's not Gwen! Anyways, who are you?"

"Who am I? I am your father and I am ordering you out of bed right this instant!" An old man stood directly in front of Ben glowering at him.

"You must be mistaken. I am not your son. I am a kid from the future who is on a mission to find a book."

"Keep dreaming Oogway! After the temple, perhaps we can send you to a prestigious university. Then you can read all the books you want."

"My name is not Oogway! It's Ben Tennyson!"

"Oogway is a moniker. We call you this because you're slow in everything you do, including getting out of bed!"

"Just five more minutes."

"You want me to bang the pots and pans again? I told you to get up and I mean it!"

"Ok, ok. I'm getting up."

"That's more like it. You have ten minutes to get dressed. Your mother and I will be waiting for you." The man left the room.

_What have I gotten myself into? Why does the old man think I'm his son? Why do I have to go to the temple? Where's everybody else? Where am I?_ Thoughts swirled inside Ben's head as he got up from the bed and headed downstairs.

"Hello Oogway. I see that you are finally up," a short haired woman said.

"I'm sorry; I must have gotten amnesia from sleeping too much or something. Who am I and who are all of you guys?" Ben asked.

"This is Ryu, your mother, I'm Chou, your father, and you are Chang."

"Why do I have to go to the temple?"

"You must prepare to join the army. The temple is where you will complete your training," Chou said.

"I don't want to join the army! I've had enough experience with the Greek Army!"

"Greek Army? What blasphemy is this? You haven't been out of China in your entire life!" Chou roared.

"Come now dear husband. Don't yell at him. He's got his first lesson in an hour and he still hasn't eaten breakfast," Ryu scolded. She turned to Ben. "What do you want to eat, son?"

"You have any Sumo Slammers cereal?"

"I don't know what that is. We have rice gruel, pickled vegetables, mantou and sliced beef. What do you want to eat?" Ryu asked.

"I think I'll have it all," Ben said. He cut open the mantou, put the beef in the center and made himself a sandwich. Ten minutes later, after this filling breakfast, Ben felt ready to go to the temple.

"Here's twenty Yuan to pay for the taxi," Chou said.

"Can't I just walk?"

"It takes half an hour to walk there. It's better to take the taxi."

"Fine," Ben said as he took the money and headed out the door.

"Oh my son is all grown up!" Ryu cried.

"This training will make him a man!" Change declared.

On the other side of town

Ming Pao Ads

_ New Shaolin Temple Grand Master wanted! Must be black belt and willing to work with complete novices. Benefits: You get to order people around and make and screw your own rules. Competitive wages! What happened to the old master you ask? He was permanently handicapped after his former student "accidentally" kicked the guy in the lower back, causing a permanent bending of the spine. To avoid this, we encourage all masters to respect their students._

"Hmmm," Gwen said, reading the advertisement. "Looks like my specialty. Only problem is, I don't know how to get there!" She walked past a man on the side of the road.

"Excuse me sir, but do you know how to get to Wudang Shaolin Temple?"

"I do," the man said, "It's just a 45 minute walk from here."

"Thank you sir," Gwen said as she ran towards the temple. About twenty minutes later, she passed a small cottage. The man and woman waved her inside.

"Are you the new kung-fu instructor?" Chou asked.

"Yes. Is anything wrong?"

"Our son just started this morning. He's a bit slow, so please try and be patient with him," Ryu said.

"I'll try my best." Gwen left the house and continued on her journey.

Meanwhile…

"Taxi! Taxi!" Ben shouted. An old man pulling a rickshaw slowed down in front of Ben.

"You have need for taxi?" he asked.

"Yes. I need it to get to Wudang temple."

"Give me ten Yuan and I shall take you there." Ben gave the man his ten Yuan and hopped in the rickshaw. Ten minutes later, Ben arrived at the temple. It was a slightly crooked grey structure of five stories.

_I wonder who on Earth would want to train here, He thought._

Ben pushed open the tall doors and walked inside. "Hello! Is anybody home?" he said. He was met with silence. "I guess I'll just wait outside for the teacher then." He walked back outside and sat on the steps. Five minutes later, a red-haired tall girl came running up the steps and tripped over him.

"Hey! Watch where you sit, will you?" The girl shouted at Ben.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to block your path like that," Ben replied sheepishly.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the new student. My "parents" sent me to the temple to learn Kung-Fu. Said it was in preparation for the military."

"Hold on- Are you the one called Oogway because you're slow at everything you do?"

Ben turned red. "How did you know that?"

"I met his parents on the way here."

"So you're the replacement teacher?"

"Well you could say that. I was just passing through town when I noticed the ad for the new teacher. Technically, I'm not qualified to teach, but I do have a black-belt, so I thought, why not?"

"I don't believe you. You look about my age."

"Is that a challenge? Ok, let's go inside and see what you're really made of!"

Ben followed the mysterious girl into the arena. She turned around and he gasped.

"Gwen? Is that you?" He ran over and hugged her. She reciprocated in kind.

"Where were you? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Ben said.

"I told you. I was wandering through town and I found this temple. I guess it was pure coincidence that we met when we did."

"You haven't met any of the others?" Ben asked, meaning Kevin, Rook, Max or Xerxes.

"No. I'm sorry."

"So what do you want to do now?"

"I guess I could spar with you while we figure out what to do. Go transform into one of your aliens."

"Are you sure we don't want to go search for them first?"

"It's noon time now. The streets are full of people. It'll be harder to track the rest of our team with so much interference."

"I don't feel like sparring. Let's just talk."

"About what?"

"About why our relationship changed all of a sudden."

"Hmm. I guess we learned to care about each other more."

"Yeah. I still remember when we were like ten. I used to think you were the biggest dweeb on the block!"

"That's funny. I still think you're a doofus sometimes."

"But then I realized that…that even though we had our squabbles, deep down, I knew I would do anything for you."

"Remember that time when you went hero, even though the Omnitrix could have self-destructed, just to save me from those mutant plant things?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I never told you how grateful I was. You risked your own life to save your annoying cousin!"

"I couldn't bear to see you hurt."

"That's so sweet of you."

"Everything changed when we turned 15. All of a sudden, you were civil towards me."

"I said it was only because we were searching for Grandpa Max, but I wasn't entirely truthful. We bonded through that and I guess it sorta lasted till the present."

"We argued a lot less frequently after that."

"Yes. Until we were faced with our first challenge: Mutant Kevin."

"I remember that! I wanted to kill him because I thought he was too far gone."

"And I wanted to save him."

"It led to our first actual battle, which you won because I was holding back."

"I actually tried to get rid of you because you were in the way."

"If you really were, you would have killed me once you knocked me out!"

"But I didn't. I knew I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for not listening to you."

Ha-ha. Turns out I was right after all. Kevin could be saved if you knew how to get to him."

"And it was lucky you did. Kevin's one valuable guy to have around!"

"That's for sure. I'm glad you gave him a second chance."

I'm proud to have you as a cousin, Gwen."

"Me too!"

"Would you look at the time! It's already 5," Ben said.

"The Omnitrix now has a built in watch?"

"Yup. I programmed it. As we can't bring cell-phones back in time, I had to be able to get the time somehow."

"Smart move. Can you meet me back here in 20 minutes?"

"Sure, but why?"

"Just to tell your "parents" that you'll be with me for a while. Make something up about what it is that we'll be doing." Ben ran down the steps, hailed a rickshaw and managed to make home it back in 10 minutes.

"Hello son, how was training?" asked Chou.

"It was great! I have a favor to ask you though."

"What is it?" asked Ryu.

"I have to go on a special field trip with my teacher. We have to visit other martial arts temples and stuff. The whole trip might take a couple of weeks."

"The first day we send you to school, you're already scheming to get out of our clutches!" Chou raged.

"That's not how it is! I love you guys, but I have to go!"

"Humph," Chou snorted, " You said you got amnesia remember? You couldn't even recognize your own parents, let alone tell them you love them!"

"Just let him go. It's for an educational purpose."

"Family comes before education in Asian culture! You're not going!" Chou told Ben.

"Don't make me do something I'm going to regret," Ben said.

"What are you going to do? Try and get past me? You're so slow that my mama could beat you to your own funeral!"

"What? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

"It's not supposed to make sense!"

"Are you going to let me go or not?"

" FOR THE LAST TIME, NO WAY IN 10000 YEARS!"

"I'm sorry I have to do this to you then."

"Bring it on Oogway! I'll be waiting for you, if you even get here while I'm still alive that is!"

Ben transformed into XLR8 and bowled the old man down. Chou had a heart attack from the shock of seeing such insane speed and died on the spot, face-down on the ground."

"I told the old man that he would hurt himself eventually and I was right," Ryu said.

"Sorry I killed your husband. I didn't mean to."

"It's fine. I never really liked him anyway."

"What?! How can you say such a thing?"

"See for yourself." Ben's father turned into a DNAlien.

"Eww. That's gross! Anyways, who are you? Are you an alien too?" Ben asked cautiously, his hand on the Omnitrix dial.

"Calm yourself. I'm a plumber like you. Paradox sent me here to help you guys find the book."

"I got to verify that." He used the Omnitrix to scan her. "Human DNA detected," the Omnitrix said.

"Ok, you're clean. Let's go to the temple."

The plumber grabbed onto XLR8 and they got to the temple in a minute.

"Who's this, Ben?" Gwen asked.

"I'm Molly Günter from the Alpha Squad. You might have seen me around during some of your previous missions. I was the one, for example, told Rook how to stop that crazy cat lady's mind control of you, Ben."

"I thank you for that."

"So Paradox sent you to help us find the book?" Gwen asked.

"Uh-huh. He knew you guys would probably need help navigating and he was right. Also, I'm quite good at H2H."

"Yeah. I think we can take care of ourselves on that one. Hand to hand was always Kevin's specialty," Ben said.

"We don't have him with us right now. I can be the sub."

"I guess you can help us then," Gwen said.

"Did I also tell you that I'm fluent in over 20 languages including Chinese?"

"We won't need that service. We've got language translators," Ben said.

"And the language translators got most of the translations from Google."

"I see our point. Ok, you're in!" Ben decided.

Five minutes later, everyone was doing last minute checks in preparation for the long journey.

"Are you sure you have everything Gwen?"

"Yeah. Shirts, pants, intimate apparel, trail mix, spell book, chips, hotdogs, locket with Kevin's picture on it, …"

"My list is more exciting. Sumo slammers for the Wii-U, Raman noodles, Wii-U,_ Frozen_, all 552 episodes of the Simpsons, South Park, …" (They begin the journey up a mountain at this point.)

"_ Frozen_? You've watched it like 10 times already! You don't even have a DVD player!"

"Correction. I did not have a DVD player until I hacked the Wii-U as Grey Matter and added it."

"As long as you don't start singing! If you do, I'm going to magically seal your lips!"

"I've seen _Frozen_. Magister Tennyson made us all watch it during the holiday," chimed in Molly.

"Yeah! And now you can't _Let It Go_!" exclaimed Ben.

"I'm warning you, Ben."

"You know you want to sing along! If you do just this one, I won't sing it anymore…ever!"

"Fine, if this'll make you shut-up!"

"The snow glows bright on the mountain tonight…"

"Not a footprint to be seen…" sang Gwen halfheartedly.

"A kingdom of isolation…"

"And it looks like, I'm the queen…"

Thirty seconds later…

"LET IT GO! LET IT GO! CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE!"

"Ben! Keep it down! Do you want us to be discovered?"

"Nobody can hear us for miles. We're on a mountain for Christ's sake!"

"Still, it is wise to not announce our presence," Molly said.

"No one can hear-Arggh!" They all stopped their forwards motion.

"What happened, Ben?" cried Gwen.

"I got shot in the arm with a crossbow!" Ben screamed as he looked down to see the arrow sticking out of his forearm.

"Hold on. I've got a first aid kit in my bag," said Molly.

"Don't do anything stupid." Gwen said, calmly.

"Too late. I yanked it out already!" Ben said as he watched the blood gush out.

"It's an ambush!" Gwen cried as arrows began to rain down on the three of them. She erected a dome that prevented any further damage.

"Can you run to that cave over there, Ben?" Molly asked, pointing to a small opening in the mountain that was, coincidentally, just large enough for three people.

"I can if I don't faint first!"

Gwen and Molly half dragged/half carried Ben to the cave, where Molly applied a tourniquet. The blood still gushed out, so Molly put a bandage over the tourniquet, which stopped the bleeding. Just as they were about to continue on their journey, a voice shouted at them.

"Come out from there! We have you surrounded!"

"And if we don't?" Gwen yelled back.

"You can come out and be prisoners of the Qin Empire or be shot full of arrows!"

"I have to discuss this with the rest of my team. Give us two minutes!"

"Fine. But no more!"

"What do you guys think? Should be go with them or fight?" Gwen whispered to Ben and Molly.

"I'm in no condition to battle right now. I say we go with the soldiers," said Ben.

"Perhaps we can find Grandpa Max, Rook or Kevin wherever they're taking us," said Gwen.

"Dang it! I was going to say we fight, but I guess two beats one."

Gwen poked her head out of the cave. "We'll go with you," she told the soldier. A minute later, Gwen and Molly were prodded up the mountain at spear-point. Ben had to be carried because he couldn't walk on his own (a side effect of seeing his own blood). They marched for four days without stopping except for the occasional food and bathroom break. By the end, all three were tired and sweaty. Finally they reached the Qin Emperor's Imperial Palace, a huge fortress made with gilded roof tiles.

"Sir, we brought you some prisoners! What shall we do with them?" the garrison commanded asked of the Emperor.

"Let them rot in the dungeons until I see fit to try them. No doubt they are spies sent by the other states to learn about our plans."

"Yes sir!"

"Move!" the soldiers ordered as they shoved the trio down to the dungeons. "You know what's down here. This is where you'll stay until the emperor is ready to see you." The jail warden opened the prison door and pushed Ben inside.

"What about the others?" he inquired, meaning Molly and Gwen.

"Don't worry. They'll be housed in another part for uh… security purposes," the warden told him. Ben was left to his own devices as the guard led Gwen and Molly away. As soon as they left, Ben's eyelids grew heavy and he fell into a deep slumber.

"Ben- dude, wake up!" A voice shook Ben out of the comforting embrace of darkness.

"Whuz-goin-on? Who's there?" Ben asked groggily as he opened his eyes to see Rook smiling at him.

"Rook! Buddy! It's so good to see you again!" Ben cried as he ran towards the blue Revonnahgander and hugged him.

"What are you doing Ben? I have researched your species and have concluded that displays of affection between two human beings of the male gender indicate abnormality."

"What was that you just said?" Ben asked, curious, as he was still hugging Rook and getting his ears smashed.

"Oh, it was nothing. It is good to see you too Ben."

"So how'd you end up in this dump?" Ben asked, glancing around the prison.

"We and by that I mean myself, your grandpa, Kevin and that guy you brought back from Greece-what was his name again?"

"Xerxes."

"Right. Anyways, we, as you humans might say, "had a sh**ty day" and landed right next to this magnificent palace. Of course, we were caught right away and sent to the dungeons because the Emperor feared we were spies."

"The same thing happened to us!"

"They separated us," said Rook.

"And what happened to Xerxes?"

"Well, they tried to force him into the cell on my left, but he resisted."

"So he's dead?!" cried Ben, shocked.

"Like many of your human fairy tales, this one has a happy ending. No, Xerxes summoned a bunch of soldiers from nowhere, overpowered the garrison, escaped the palace and has not been heard from since. Rumor has it that Xerxes is now the leader of a rival group vying for control of China. I have no idea where Kevin and Magister Tennyson are."

"So, all we have to do is escape from here and link up with Xerxes."

"That is the plan, yes."

The door opened and Gwen and Molly were shoved inside.

"Hey Ben! Hey Rook!" both said.

"What did those people do to you guys?"

"Nothing. They wanted to keep the genders separate, that's all. It kinda makes sense, in a way. We both got a shower and were allowed to change," replied Gwen.

"We didn't get a shower yet!" screamed Ben. As if on cue, the warder came back. "You guys," mentioning to Rook and Ben, "get a ten minute shower each. After that, all of you have a meeting with the Emperor." Ben and Rook left to take their showers. Afterwards, everyone was prodded to the throne room to meet the Emperor.

"All hail Emperor Qin Shi Huang, leader of the glorious Qin Empire!" cried a herald.

"I guess this is the point we all get down on our knees and perform the kow-tow?" snickered Ben.

"Ben! That's extremely offensive towards East Asians!" said Gwen.

"What is this kow-tow that you speak of?" Rook asked Gwen.

"It's a custom that East Asians have to show respect, especially to the Emperor."

"You are now required to kow-tow in front of the Emperor!" said the herald.

"Not me! I don't see why I have to!" yelled Ben.

"Just do it!" hissed Gwen, "You get beheaded if you don't!"

"The boy is refusing to do the kow-tow!" All of the soldiers gasped. "Off with his head!" yelled a few.

"No! I forbid it!" said Qin Shi Huang. "Tell me foreigner, what makes you so brave?"

"I frequently disobey rules that I see are unjust. As the reverend Martin Luther King Jr. will say exactly 2,443 years from now, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!"

"I like you. Tell you what. I'll set you and all your friends free if you'll be willing to do me one small favor."

"And what's that?"

"Help me to become ruler of all of China by defeating the six rival factions."

"Deal!" Ben walked back to Gwen, Rook and Molly.

"Hold on. We can't accept his terms yet. We don't get an equal reward," hissed Gwen.

"Ask for help locating the author of that elusive book Paradox sent you to find," suggested Molly.

"And while you are at it, we should ascertain the locations of Kevin and Magister Tennyson," added Rook. Ben walked back up to the Emperor.

"I have a counter-offer," he announced.

"What? You dare scoff at my generous offering?!"

"Oh no, I would never do that!"

"Of course you wouldn't," snorted the Emperor.

"I offer to help you conquer China if you offer help us locate a book on military strategy, and tell us where the two other foreign prisoners you have are. One is chubby and white. The other is tall, skinny and can manipulate matter."

"I have no idea what book you are searching for. As for the two prisoners, I have no idea where they are. They escaped with that Greek scoundrel by the name of Xerxes."

"Surely you must know the name of the greatest military book ever written?"

"Let me think…" Thirty seconds passed.

"Ah, yes. You are referring to the _Art of War_ by Sun Tzu. Unfortunately, we do not have him. The Han do. They are our neighbor directly to the northeast."

"So, who are you guys fighting against?"

"The Han, the Wei, the Zhao, the Qi, the Chu, and the Yan."

"You'll have a unified China in no time sir. I can promise you that!"

"Good luck!"

Ben left with Rook, Gwen and Molly. After securing a luxury suite complements of Emperor Qin, the group decided on their next plan of attack.

"I say we meet up with Xerxes first. We can't take on entire armies by ourselves even with the Omnitrix," said Ben.

"That's the first time all day that you've said something logical. Anyways, we could if we knew what faction he belonged to," said Gwen.

"We could walk under a flag of truce to each of the armies," suggested Rook.

"And get our butts handed to us?" asked Molly.

"Since it is a truce, under the law, they can't attack us," said Ben.

"Right. Which group are we going to ask first?" asked Gwen.

"Let us start with the one farthest from the Qin, the Wei. It will take us the longest time to get there," said Rook.

"Anyone know where they are?" asked Gwen.

"Omnitrix, how far is it from Charlotte, North Carolina to Los Angeles, California?" asked Ben.

"Around 2,800 miles. At an average walking pace, you should get there in about 34 days," replied the Omnitrix.

"And the point of that was?" asked Gwen.

"It's about the distance we have to walk. The Wei live in the Gobi Desert."

"More than a month? Where are we going to get food and shelter?"

"Our benevolent Emperor will provide. After all, he thinks we are working for him," said Rook.

"We'll bump into the Zhao, the Chu and the Yun along the way. Let's just hope Xerxes is the leader of one of them," said Ben. After all four of them agreed on a plan, they went back to the Emperor for an update.

"So you are planning to travel to the Gobi Desert and you want me to provide you with 40 days worth of food?"

"Yes, your majesty," said Gwen.

"Consider it done. I shall also provide you with 10,000 soldiers and living accommodations."

"Thank you for being so generous," said Rook. They set off for the Gobi Desert later that night. Three weeks later, they finally ran out of food because Gwen insisted on giving some to the orphans along the way, Rook gave some to the Zhou, the Chu and the Yun to appease them and everyone ate the rest. Rook's strategy didn't work due to the fact that none of the factions liked the idea of getting a bribe to allow safe passage through their territory. As a result, the group had no choice but to fight their way past the hostile states, which they didn't like one bit. The schedule went something like this (Ben's POV):

Monday: Met up with some Zhou. Warlike tribe who refused to accept our generous gift of a week's worth of food. Pretended to accept us and proceeded to launch a surprise attack at night. Luckily, Gwen was able to shield us as we ran for our lives under a hail of fire arrows. The Zhou followed us. Lost around 100 soldiers.

Tuesday: Turned the tide as we tired the Zhou out. I went Atomix and nuked them into oblivion. Afterwards, we all agreed it was a complete waste of time and that we should've bypassed the Zhou as soon as we learned of their violent natures. Gwen gave a day's food to some "poor orphans" along the way. Afterwards, they took off their rags and we realized that we'd been duped. Guess I won't be getting any of that orange chicken back!

Sunday: Rook almost died today. It happened as we were crossing a bridge. We had made a pact with the Yun, but as we were crossing, they took out their knives and sawed off the ropes holding the bridge up. I always though those Yun looked suspicious, especially since they told us to get on the bridge first. Transformed into Ditto and split myself to catch Molly and Rook, but his hands slipped out of mine. Molly was able to catch Rook before he tumbled into the abyss. Some 600 soldiers weren't so lucky.

Wednesday: Bumped into the Chu today. Seemed pretty helpful until they built us a boat and told us to get in to cross a large body of water. Turns out they put a hole in it and the moment the boat reached the middle, it sank. We didn't know that they did it at the time and they insisted it was an accident. We set up camp for the night when suddenly Rook's plumber badge went off. Apparently, the Chu had surrounded us and were planning to offer us up as a sacrifice to their God. After some fierce hand to hand combat in which most of the soldiers given to us were killed, I finally got tired of it all and transformed into Alien X. I managed to disarm them and make them leave us alone. Gwen was hit in the leg with a poison dart and I was forced to suck out the venom. It was disgusting. Managed to pillage some food from the Chu, but it's not nearly enough.

Wednesday (2 weeks later): We entered into the Gobi Desert today. The rest of our soldiers got lost in a giant sandstorm and I think they're all dead. It's just the four of us now. My arm got infected because some sand got under the bandage. We had some disinfectant, but Gwen said it was a month expired. I still used it and it kind of worked. At least the pain is gone. Food is short, so we're limited to 1,000 calories a day. Even that's better than nothing I suppose.

Saturday (a week later): The food is gone entirely! Never before have I gone without food. I guess this is my first night.

Sunday: Spent a day without food. I guess this is what most present day North Koreans have to go through every day. It's horrible. My stomach is growling for sustenance, but I can't give it any.

Monday: Gwen collapsed from hunger and exhaustion earlier in the day. We spend turns carrying her. I hope we reach civilization soon or we're all goners! At least we still have mineral water.

Friday: Ran out of water too! Gwen breathing is extremely shallow and I'm afraid if we don't get her something soon, she's going to die!

Sunday: Held a meeting with Rook and Molly on the worsening conditions. I proposed that we eat Gwen when she dies to keep the rest of us alive. Cannibalism is sick, but what choice do we have? I'm proud to have known Gwen for 14 years.

That night: Finally reached the Wei today! Gwen's still alive. I think she heard us talking about cannibalizing her and it freaked her out, giving her the will to live. Turns out Xerxes is in change. Our first priority was getting Gwen something to eat and drink. As soon as we did, she woke up and was healthy again. So glad I didn't have to eat my cousin! We also met up with Kevin and Grandpa Max. They seem healthy for people who've been in captivity for so long. Guess the Qin didn't mistreat the either. I'll have to thank Emperor Qin later!

"So, how'd you get way out here?" asked Gwen.

"I needed a safe place to hide out where the Qin couldn't find me. The Gobi Desert was perfect. You guys were barely even able to make it out here!"

"As soon as we are rested, we need you to help us track down the_ Art of War_. It's that book Paradox told us about. I think you're familiar with it?" Ben said.

"Yes, I'm very familiar with it."

"Get some rest everybody. We've got a long journey ahead of us." Everyone dispersed for some much needed sleep.

Two days later

_Brigggg!_

Ben cracked open his eyes to see the Omnitrix watch alarm beeping. _Time to wake the others, he thought. I can't believe I actually slept for two whole days! I must be totally out of it!_

"Wake up, Rook! It's time to get the book!"

"Ben-dude, it is too early!"

"It's 11:00 in the morning. You've been out for two whole days!"

"Someone has been keeping track of the time?"

"My watch says it's been two days since I've moved my body."

"I see. Go wake the others. I will go fix us some breakfast."

"Make it edible, please?"

"I shall do my best to please your peculiar human taste-buds." Ben left to wake Gwen and Molly, who were bunking together in the other room.

"Look alive people!" Ben cried. As he entered the tent, a mysterious force hoisted him by the ankle and left him dangling from the ceiling. Molly sprang up and pointed a blaster at him.

"Hold your fire! It's me, Ben!" Gwen illumined him in purple light and discovered the truth.

"Put the gun down. It's only Ben," she told Molly. Molly holstered the weapon.

Suddenly, Ben fell down to the ground in a heap. He got back up, rubbing his ankle.

"How'd you do that?" asked Gwen. "You aren't an energy-being like me! In other words, you can't do magic!"

"I can't do your kind of magic, but I do have experience with certain nonverbal spells from the Harry Potter universe._ Levicorpus _and its counter-spell _Liberacorpus_ are one of them. "

"I see you've been studying," Gwen said with a laugh.

"You're always telling me that I'm not working to my full potential in school. This proves you wrong!" Ben replied.

"So, are we leaving?" asked Molly.

"As soon as Rook's ready with the breakfast. Xerxes is already saddled up and waiting for us. We better hurry!" shouted Ben as he left the tent. Five minutes later, everyone was settling down to buttermilk pancakes and hot sausage links.

"Where'd you get all this food, Rook?" asked Ben in between bites.

"I have been hoarding food ever since you started taking me on those weekly shopping trips to the human supermarkets."

"Eww!" screamed Ben and Gwen as they spat out the food. "You mean to tell us that this food is expired?!"

"I only hoard fresh produce, so calm yourselves. I know the difference between a ripe banana and one that is rotten." After this announcement, Ben and Gwen resumed eating.

"Anyone think the Han are going to be friendly?" asked Molly, who wasn't eating much because she complained of stomachaches.

"After what we've been through, fat chance of that," said Ben.

"They'll probably betray us, like all the other factions did," added Gwen.

Xerxes came back to badger them. "Hurry up! I don't have all day to lead an expedition you know!"

"Ok, ok! We're going!" Ben cried, exasperated. After an uneventful two weeks, they arrived back at the Qin palace. Ben went in with Xerxes to explain the situation.

"Your majesty, we have come back after defeating most of your enemies. I have brought back the "scoundrel" Xerxes. We are best buddies and I wish that you do not execute him."

"Any buddy of yours is a buddy of mine!" the Emperor cried.

"I propose that we join forces to conquer a common adversary known as the Han," said Xerxes.

"Of course! However, I ran out of soldiers helping him," the emperor pointed at Ben, "cross the desert, so you'll have to make do with your own soldiers."

"That won't be a problem." Xerxes snapped his fingers and an entire Greco Army group materialized out of thin air outside the palace walls complete with five artillery regiments, two field armies and ten mounted cavalry brigades.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ben. "You control all of this?"

"I do right now, but I'm going to need help."

"You needed help locating the book, yes?" asked the Emperor.

"I'm sure the Han have hid it somewhere deep inside their palace," said Xerxes.

"It'll be all the sweeter taking it from them then. First we crack the cell, and then we get the nuts inside!" cried Ben.

"Careful you don't bite off more than you can chew," warned Xerxes.

"I can single-handedly overcome their defense."

"We'll see."

"Then go now and don't come back until you've defeated the Han scum, pretty please?" said Qin Shi Huang. Xerxes, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Molly and Grandpa Max left with their army shortly after dawn on Friday the 18th of November for the week long journey to the Han palace.

One week later (25th of November)-Skirmish at the Han River Bridge

"One more bridge to cross? Why are there so many of them?" asked a very frustrated Ben, who had already been forced to cross more than twenty bridges so far.

"Think about it Einstein. This is a river we're talking about," sneered Kevin. "Perhaps you can use a bridge to cross the river?"

"Well, we're not crossing that bridge without a fight! Look up ahead. There appears to be a garrison stationed just beyond the bridge, holed up in some sort of fort," said Gwen.

"Shall I bring out the catapults?" asked Xerxes.

"Not yet. Let's see if they'll be willing to surrender first. Come Gwen, I'll need you to act as a shield," said Ben. Ben and Gwen walked toward the fort (around 3 miles away) under an invisible dome. The watchman on the tower saw them and shouted.

"Halt! Who goes there, friend or foe?"

"Well, it depends. If you surrender, we can all be friends," said Ben.

"Fat chance. There are only two of you and over two hundred of us! We can easily overwhelm you! I suggest that you surrender!"

"No, I suggest that you surrender on the orders of Emperor Qin of the Qin Empire!"

"I say you are mad to think that you can intimidate us like that!"

"This is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson accompanying Gwendolyn Tennyson. We are both qualified plumber agents and you will comply with our demands or face the full might of the Omnitrix in all its glory along with some incredible magical acrobatics!"

"Excuse me? Are you threatening me sir?"

"That's for you to judge, sir. Please make the right choice and surrender. Don't make life difficult."

"I can tell you that I am not easily intimidated by this so called "Omnitrix" and its teenage wielder! Nor am I frightened of some girl who can do some enhanced back-flips!"

"I'm sorry; you have chosen the wrong choice! Fighting us was not an option. You just flunked _How to Negotiate with Someone Clearly Stronger Than you_. Thanks for playing and see you next time, if there is a next time for you!"

"You're bluffing right? I don't see your army. What are you going to fight us with? Two sticks and a stone? This fort can't be penetrated by conventional means!"

"We shall be discussing our course of action. Please refrain from any violence until we reach a decision. Then you shall be free to attempt to kill us!"

"What are we going to do, Gwen?" asked Ben.

"Let's go back and talk with Xerxes. It may be time to take out the heavy artillery!"

"Ok, you blokes! We've decided to go back and storm your fort by force!"

"Kill them! Shoot them full of arrows!" the captain of the guard roared. Archers appeared on top of the battlements and began to rain down arrows. The duo ran back to Xerxes with arrows bouncing off the shield Gwen put up.

"So, no dice?" Xerxes asked.

"Does it look like we succeeded?" replied Gwen, sarcastically, as she pointed to the fifty arrows imbedded in the shield.

"Now we go bust down the front door with a battering ram?" suggested Kevin.

"No, I have a better idea. Do you guys know what Greek fire is?"

"The fire that isn't extinguished even when doused with water?" asked Gwen.

"Exactly!"

"Brilliant mate!" exclaimed Ben. "We can burn down their fort."

"To make it easier to apply, I put the fire into jars. Just take a jar and lob it at their fortifications. The instant it touches wood, it'll start eating away at the material. However, someone needs to get close again aka "pretend to negotiate". We're out of range for the catapults to launch and it takes too much effort to wheel the catapults into position."

"I'll do it," volunteered Ben. He walked back to the fort.

"Come back to negotiate, eh? Realize that there's absolutely nothing you can do that will cause us to surrender?" sneered the captain.

"I can sing a song for you."

"And how will that help your cause?"

"Just listen and I think you'll find out!" Ben opened his mouth and began to sing:

**I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it**

**I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it**

**I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside****it**

On top of the battlements, the captain snickered and ordered that the entire garrison come up to watch the spectacle. "Isn't this first rate? I get paid to sanction this kind of thing!"

"Perhaps the thing he's holding might actually help him," suggested a general.

Oh shut-up! What can a jar of dirt possibly do?"

**I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it**

"I'm getting annoyed. Can I give the order to open fire?" pestered the general.

"No. Wait till that buffoon's done!"

**I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
And guess what's inside it  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt  
I've got a jar of dirt**

**And guess what's inside it**

"I'm done! Did that convince you?" asked Ben.

"Not in the slightest, but it was good entertainment," complemented the captain.

"Thanks. Do I get a reward or something?"

"Yeah. Your reward is 100 arrows up your bottom!" screamed the general. "Archers, open fire!" Arrows once again whizzed through the sky. Ben hurled the jar of Greek fire at the gate.

"Oh no! There goes my jar of dirt!" He cried as he ran for his life back to the other side of the river through a barrage of arrows.

"What did he throw?" asked the captain.

"His jar of dirt. I think he was bluffing. There's probably nothing in there," said the general

"Better go check it out all the same." The captain told ten soldiers to go down and clear the mess. They went down and opened the gate.

"What's this?" one soldier asked another, holding some "sand" in his hand.

"Beats me. It came from the lunatic's jar."

"Drop it! The sand could be dangerous," said the commander, running over. Just as he said this warning, the sand ignited, engulfing the ten soldiers in a fireball.

"Aggrh!" they all screamed and rolled on the ground in a vain attempt to smother the flames. When that didn't work, the soldiers ran towards the gate.

"What in God's name is going on down there?" asked the captain as he peered over the edge of the parapet. Seeing the soldiers struggling to put out the flames, he ordered the cook to upend his pot of water on them. Although the water offered some immediate relief, the fire could not be put out and the ten soldiers soon died agonizing deaths. However, the horror wasn't over just yet. One of the soldiers managed to grasp at the gate in his death throes and the wooden structure caught fire.

"Fire alert!" the general yelled.

"Send all available soldiers to put out the fire!" the captain replied. However, before anyone even got to staircase to go downstairs, the entire fort was engulfed in flames. The captain and the general scrambled to get out of the burning structure before it was too late.

"Everyone evacuate the building! I, however, go first because I'm the most important. The rest of you follow in order of rank. Good luck, you'll need it!" yelled the captain.

No one paid attention to his order in the slightest and the result was mass chaos. The captain and general ran into a fireproof room that held an emergency exit, which they escaped from. Some of the soldiers crowded onto the staircase and tried to follow them. However, the weight was too much and the staircase collapsed, spilling everyone on it into the flames below. Others, seeing that the situation was hopeless, jumped from the battlements and splattered their brains out on the ground 200 feet below. In all, 3,000 people died from the fire, collapse or jump. Three miles away, Ben saw the whole event in shock.

"I can't believe we killed 3,000 people with one jar of dirt!" he cried. Gwen buried her head in Ben's shoulder and cried.

"We're not murderers are we? It doesn't seem fair that so many people who were just following orders were killed," she managed in between sobs.

"This is war. Nothing in war is fair," Ben consoled her.

"Get over it! War isn't kind and the more you think about it, the less pain it will bring you," said Xerxes harshly. This shocked Gwen so much that she stopped crying and lifted her head off Ben.

"You can justify it anyway you like, but it still doesn't change the fact that we killed," she told Xerxes.

"We should have a moment of silence for all who died," chimed in Grandpa Max.

"I agree. It's the least we can do to show we still have humanity," said Molly.

"Do what you have to, but please make it quick. I'll be over there in that tree planning our next attack," said Xerxes. He climbed the tree and made a great show of looking away from the group.

"Let's do this," said Kevin. They all bowed their heads and held a moment of silence. For an instant, nothing but birds chirping and the wind whispering could be heard. Finally, Ben spoke up.

"I guess that does it. Let's get going."

"Right. The sooner we get the_ Art of War_ from the Han palace, the sooner all of this can be put behind us," said Max. They signaled to Xerxes that they were ready and everybody continued on their journey.

Meanwhile at the Han Palace

"My lord, a huge army is approaching this castle," said the captain.

"What? How is this possible?" asked the Han Emperor.

"We tried to stop them, sir, but they burned down our fort with some incendiary device. The entire garrison minus us was killed," said the general.

"Then you should've died with them! How dare you abandon your men?!" the Emperor raged.

"We thought that you would've wanted some advance warning of an attack. Because we escaped, we are able to do so.

"That still doesn't justify leaving behind 3,000 soldiers!"

"Think about how many you would lose if we hadn't been able to warn you in time."

"You make a good point. You'll be spared punishment," here the two cowards looked at each other in relief, "… only for the duration of the siege." The smiles quickly faded.

"Go now! Get everybody inside the castle and prepare the defenses! We need at least a day to get ready!"

The two men scrambled up off their feet and ran towards the door, eager to avoid upsetting their emperor. They bumped heads and sat down rubbing their heads.

"Idiots! Can't you guys get anything right?" The emperor asked, annoyed. When they didn't answer, he threw both his shoes at them, which prompted them to get up and run out of the door to find the herald.

"You!" they both shouted to a boy no older than twenty. The boy was so startled that he dropped his trumpet on the ground, where it shattered. Both commanders snickered cruelly.

"When you obtain a new one, go and sound the warning. Enemy forces are rapidly approaching the city and we need everyone to get inside for their own safety." The boy hurried off to the musicians shop to rent another bugle and when he finally did after much arguing with the store keeper, who thought he was using it to cause trouble, he blew the warning note. The pre-arranged sound was the signal for everyone outside the castle walls to pack up their belongings and stream into the castle where they could shelter in place until the danger passed. Hordes of farmers, their crops on their back and their families in tow flooded through the gate. The crush was so bad, soldiers had to be assigned to crowd control to makes sure the population was kept calm. Five hundred soldiers were stationed just outside the gate to keep the crowds moving. Additional soldiers guided the population into the courtyard where all the civilians were assembled. The situation was tense and soldiers were permitted to fire on anyone who was impeding progress. After five hours, the mass exodus was complete and the soldiers could begin the real task of fortifying the fortress. Teams of three hundred people each were required to haul the huge catapults up to the battlements. A giant stockpile of boulders was stationed near the center of the rooftop for easy access during the battle. Ballistae were mounted at five meter intervals along the wall, already primed with iron bolts. Mattresses were lowered behind the main gate to resist battering rams and the drawbridge was pulled up. The double portcullis chain was cut and the iron doors slammed shut behind the wooden gate. Hot oil and sand were piled next to the murder-holes, which were located directly above the iron doors. During a battle, any attackers lucky to make it inside would be trapped by the double doors and fall to a combination of oil, sand and arrows. Wooden stakes were placed on the grounds outside to deflect any potential cavalry charge. Two lines of trenches were dug to provide shelter for the defenders in the field. All able-bodied craftsmen went to work making arrows, armor, swards, crossbows, and maces. The flurry of activity lasted well into the night and no one was given much sleep. The defenders expected to be able to hold out for months until help arrived from allies. All that was left to do was to watch and wait for the attacking army.

Battle for the Imperial Palace

"Look up ahead! I see the Palace of the Han Emperor!" cried Ben as he viewed it through the spyglass.

"We have to brace ourselves for a long siege. Prepare for battle!" Xerxes ordered. The catapults were loaded and formations were rehearsed. The 1,000,000 man strong army looked impressive as it marched on the road to the Palace. Several times the Han Army sent out units to delay their advance, but the overwhelming force could not be stopped. Xerxes' army along with Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Rook, Molly and Max arrived at the outskirts of the palace on December 1st.

"Shall I go and try the same trick again?" asked Ben.

"No fool's going to fall for it again," exclaimed Kevin.

"Perhaps I can tear down the walls with my magic?" suggested Gwen.

"You'll rip out your arm sockets before you even budge a stone," warned Ben.

"I suppose this is the time to finally use my catapults. We can load them with the Greek fire and lob them over the walls. Although the castle itself is fireproof due to it being made out of stone, I bet whatever's inside isn't. We can burn their buildings to force them to surrender," cried Xerxes.

"This is for the common good, Gwen," Ben said gently. "I know you're afraid of harming more civilians, but think about how many more lives we can save back home in the present if we can just get our hands on this one book."

"All right."

"Load catapults!" 10,000 catapults were loaded with Greek fire. "FIRE ALL!" Xerxes ordered. 10,000 jars of dirt flew into the air, traveling in parabolic arcs until they impacted on the scores of buildings inside the castle. However the defenders had prepared well for exactly this kind of situation and had erected springy nets, which caught the jars of dirt and hurled them right back at the attackers! Luckily, Xerxes' Army was too far away to be hit and the Greek fire jars landed right outside the castle walls, where they started a fire that scorched the earth. The defender's catapults began firing rocks of their own and hundreds of Xerxes' men were crushed to death. Everyone ran to seek shelter under the cover of siege engines, which were brought up to scale the walls. Gradually the attackers began to gain ground. The defenders in the two trenches began to fall back to the main defense point inside the castle. From the battlements, a volley of rocks and arrows forced the attackers to hide behind portable shields. Kevin led the charge to the main gate under the cover of an armored battering ram and began to organize a breaching of the gate. The defenders fought tenaciously under extraordinary circumstances and even managed to beat back the attacks on the walls and gate for a while. Xerxes, seeing that conventional weapons were going nowhere, ordered the secret weapon to be brought out to attack the gate. It was the Mons Meg. The massive cannon could only be fired once a day and the recoil was so large that men were killed every time it was fired. Despite this powerful advantage, the cannon didn't even dent the gate, although it killed a dozen of Xerxes' men. Ben transformed into Alien X and tried to remove the castle from existence, but the castle remained untouched. Gwen tried to rip apart the walls, but only succeeded in dislocating her sockets. Ben was able to pop them back in after much pain on Gwen's part. The stalemate went on for another twenty four days, with both sides taking extreme casualties. On Christmas day, Ben decided to try something radical.

"Let's try and negotiate again?" he suggested.

"They must be running out of people almost as fast as we are. Only they can't afford to replace the casualties. I'd say now is a great time to negotiate," said Xerxes. Ben raised the white flag and walked to the gate.

"Hello! I'd like to propose a ceasefire while we negotiate. Please send your Emperor out so we can have a meaningful dialogue," he said. A minute later the Han Emperor appeared on the battlements.

"What do you want?" the Emperor asked. "We aren't surrendering, you know!"

"I didn't expect you to. Instead I offer a truce. You let us get a certain book and we won't bother you anymore."

"So all you want is a book? You could've just asked politely you know!"

"Well, negotiating didn't work well last time, so I thought we would try something a bit more convincing."

"Come in and help yourself." The Emperor ordered the gate be opened to invite in their former enemy turned guest. He personally escorted Ben to the library and insisted on helping him find the book."

"So what is the book you want?"

"It's called the_ Art of War_. I suppose you've heard of it?"

"I have. It is not here in the public library. I have it in my personal study. I can give it to you since I have renounced all war after these tragic few days."

"Thank you sir." The Emperor entered his private study and gave Ben the book.

"Use it well, now. May this book bring you as much success on the battlefield as it did for me."

"No wonder your castle was so well built and resistant to everything we threw at it! You must've followed everything the book said to do."

"Exactly." The group was invited to stay in the castle for a few days to recuperate.

The Coup

The captain and the general were quite bitter at having been embarrassed in front of their emperor and furious at him for receiving his former enemies so well while the two were forced to scrub the horse stalls as punishment for cowardice.

"I hate this life," complained the general as the horse kicked him for stealing its carrot (They had gone without food for days).

"Me too," the captain agreed as another horse defecated on him. "Eww! That's disgusting" he cried as he flung dung from his person.

"I say we launch a Coup d'état. We'll show that power hungry warlord who's really boss!" cried the general.

"Right. I'll give the Emperor a cup of poisoned wine at the dinner tonight. Once he drinks it, he'll fall down dead as a door nail and we can take over!"

"Where are we going to get the poison? No one in their right mind would sell anything to us two!"

"I know an alchemist on the outskirts of town who might be able to help us." Later that night, the two of them went to the mad alchemist and purchased a small bottle of arsenic, chosen because of its virtual odorless and tasteless complexion. They planned to slip the contents into the Emperor's cup while he was distracted.

The State Dinner

The guests arrived for the small reception held in their honor. Only Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Rook, Max and Xerxes were invited. In between bites of caviar and mussels, which were the appetizer, the Emperor told an anecdote on how he had became the leader through a lucky shot.

"So I was driving through town, and I came upon a pole on top of which sat a clay pigeon. Next to the pole was a crossbow and bolts. I asked several passerby what the meaning of this was.

"Whoever manages to shoot down the clay pigeon from its perch shall be crowned Emperor!" they said. So, I took the crossbow, placed a bolt on it and without really aiming, fired. I put down the weapon and walked away, sure that I had just wasted five minutes of my time, but people were gasping and pointing! I saw what they were pointing at and it turned out to be the clay pigeon! It was lying on the ground in pieces. Apparently I shot it down, which made me the new Emperor!

"Wow! What a great story of success!" everyone exclaimed.

"I think this occasion calls for some wine!" announced the Emperor. The captain came forward with the poisoned wine. He poured the contents into the cup and gave it to the Emperor to drink. At that moment, the Omnitrix acted of its own accord and transformed Ben into Wildmutt.

"What is it, Ben?" asked Gwen. "Is something amiss?"

Wildmutt only growled in response and moved towards the Emperor. Gwen stood up too, concerned. Rook took out his proto-tool and aimed it at Ben, afraid he had gone berserk. Just as the Emperor was about to take the first sip from the poisoned cup, Wildmutt sprang into action and knocked the goblet from his hands.

"Bad dog! What are you doing?" the Emperor exclaimed. Wildmutt transformed back into Ben.

"Someone tried to poison you," he told the Emperor. " I sniffed arsenic in that cup of yours. One sip and you would've been a goner!"

"Next time, tell me when you are going to do something. I almost shot you!" said Rook.

"Let me see that cup. I might be able to trace the fingerprints on it," said Gwen. She took the cup, closed her eyes and began to mover her hands in a circle. "Ah ha! Just as I suspected! It was the captain and the general!"

"Why would they do that?" asked Ben. "They seem pretty loyal to you," he told the Emperor.

"That was before I assigned them to work in the stalls for neglecting their post."

"We have to find them and bring them to justice!" declared Ben.

"I'm already on it," said Max. He took out a motion detector and discovered the two criminals running for their lives towards the outer perimeter.

"Close the gate!" ordered the Emperor. The two were trapped within the double doors of the portcullis. Everyone hurried to the gate.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We are not afraid to die!" said both the captain and the general as they took out grenades and pulled the pins. _Protego!_ Gwen cried and a transparent shield expanded to cover the entire group. The force of the explosion cracked the shield, but the only casualties were that of the general and the captain, whose remains were scattered all over the walls.

"I guess this was enough carnage for a day," yawned the Emperor.

"Seriously, you need to keep tabs on who you trust," said Kevin.

"I sure will after this." The Emperor turned to Ben.

"Thanks for saving my life back there."

"It was nothing."

"Don't be modest Ben. We all know you to be a hero to both friends and foes!" sad Gwen with a laugh.

"You all will be leaving tomorrow, yes?" asked the Emperor.

"We stayed past what our budget would allow, so I'm afraid so," said Max.

"Enjoy your last night here, then."

"Thanks. I'm sure we will!" said Ben.

The Send-Off and a character death

The next morning, everyone woke up bright and early to pack their stuff and head back to the Qin Emperor for one last status report. Ben made sure to pack the_ Art of War_ on the very top of his knapsack. The time finally came for everyone to say goodbye.

"Thanks for everything!" cried the Emperor.

"Thank you for hosting us for a month!" replied Max.

"Read that book! You'll go far with it!" the Emperor told Ben.

"I will!"

The next two weeks passed without a hitch. The group finally arrived back at the Qin Palace in February. They were immediately brought to see the Emperor.

"So, did you finally defeat all the other factions?" Qin Shi Huang asked.

"We did, except for the Han," Gwen said.

"Why? You promised me you would."

"Turns out that the Han Emperor was a nice guy who let us have the book we wanted without too much of a struggle. So, we let him off." At this the Emperor flew into a rage and took out his sword, preparing to behead Gwen to set an example. Rook quickly stepped in front of her and blocked the strike with his proto-tool.

"Whoa! Calm down man! You'll hurt yourself if you're not careful!" said Ben.

"Did you realize that I was the true enemy all along? Ever wonder why I gave you all those soldiers and equipment? It was so you could fight all my battles for me! Now that you have, I have no further use for you!" The Emperor took out a pistol and shot Gwen once point-blank in the chest before she had time to block it. Gwen staggered sideways, gasped once and collapsed on the floor, her front covered in blood. The Emperor laughed and ran away, carrying the blood-smeared weapon, followed closely by Ben, Rook, Kevin, and Grandpa Max. Xerxes was standing outside the front gate, wondering what the strange foot race was about. Then he heard Ben shout.

"Stop that man! He shot Gwen!"

Xerxes quickly stepped in front of the Emperor, who very nearly escaped.

"Step aside if you value your life!" the Emperor snarled.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not sure why my friends are chasing you, but I'm sure it's for something you did. As such, you can't leave until you've been held accountable for your crime."

"I'm not accountable to anyone. Now step aside or I'll clobber you! This is your last warning!"

When Xerxes wouldn't move, Emperor Qin tried to pistol-whip him. Xerxes quickly stepped aside so the blow only glanced off his skull. Then he used the Emperor's momentum against him and grabbed the gun with both hands, pried it from the Emperor's hands and pointed it at him.

"I surrender, I surrender!" screamed the Emperor.

"I wonder what you did when your prisoners begged for mercy. I suppose we'll find out soon enough."

"You can't shoot me! I'm a prisoner of war and you must treat me humanely!"

"Then I'll make this as quick and painless as possible." Xerxes aimed and fired a single shot into the Emperor's forehead. The Emperor pitched forward, dead. The rest of the gang arrived shortly afterwards.

"You killed him?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. He was too dangerous to be kept alive. He had this gun with someone's blood in it. Was someone shot?"

"Gwen was," Ben said sadly.

"Where?"

"Once, point-black in the chest."

"Is she still alive?"

"Yes, but we're losing her fast!" At this, everyone ran back to the palace. Molly was cradling Gwen in her arms. Xerxes made a surprise announcement.

"I'm going to make this quick since I realize you have a bit of an emergency on your hands. I've decided to stay here in China and become the new ruler. However, since I was in the 22nd century briefly, I learned the secrets of immortality. If you ever come back in the future, just stop by. I'll probably still be around!" Gwen remained motionless on the floor.

"Quick! We have to get her to the real world!" cried Max.

"Paradox! We need you to open the time portal stat!" Ben shouted. "Gwen's been shot!"

Paradox complied at once and the team was transported back to the UN building. Gwen wasn't looking too good. Every second, more blood pooled around her body. Her pulse was erratic and weak.

"Quick! Get her clothes off and start CPR while I call the fire department!" Grandpa Max ordered. Ben and Kevin stripped off Gwen's clothing and took turns giving her chest compressions and rescue breaths. Once her heartbeat grew stronger, they applied a standard field dressing to stop further bleeding. They put her clothes back on.

"I've got the ambulance on its way!" Max reported.

"It'll be too late for that. By the time they get here, she'll be long gone." Molly said.

"I know of a way, but it requires extreme luck," said Ben.

"You don't mean Alien X?" said Kevin, shocked.

"It's our only chance of saving her."

Ben transformed into Alien X and tried to convince Bellicus and Serena to help him.

"Help me right now and I promise to listen to your arguments in the future, ok?" Ben pleaded.

"We aren't finished discussing the outcome of WWIII," said Bellicus.

"My cousin is dying, dammit!"

"Watch your language, Ben dear. If you want us to help you, you'll have to ask nicely. Please and thank you should work," said Serena.

"Fine!" Ben yelled, extremely pissed off. "My cousin got shot by a lunatic and she's dying right now. I need you help to save her. Can you do that for me, please?"

"See what happens when you ask nicely? The whole process becomes much more streamlined. I vote that we vote on Ben's proposal for us to intervene to prevent his precious cousin's death," said Serena.

" I second," grumbled Bellicus.

"Great! So can we go save her now?"

"We'll consider it."

"What?! We need to act right now!"

"Request denied. We won't be saving her. You're on your own, kid," Bellicus told Ben.

"I can't believe I got you two as parts of my most powerful alien! You guys aren't even reliable!"

"Leave us and return to the human world," Bellicus boomed. Ben complied.

"Sorry guys, Serena and Bellicus won't intervene."

"So we watch her die?"

"That's all what we can do."

Gwen stirred. "Oh great. I'm dying!"

"Ben tried to go Alien X, but he couldn't get Serena and Bellicus to agree to save you," said Kevin.

"Will dying hurt?"

"No. All you'll get is a floating sensation and then you'll just leave," said Max as he tried to hold back tears.

"Come back Gwen! I never told you I was in love with you!" cried Kevin.

"I always suspected that," Gwen told him.

"Goodbye Ms. Tennyson. It was a pleasure working with you," said Rook.

"I'll miss your smart- alack remarks," said Molly.

Lastly, Gwen turned to Ben. "Anything you have to say before I go?"

"Gwen, you are the most amazing person in my life. Even though we had our differences, you were always there for me when I needed it. I especially remember those childhood squabbles fondly. We would have arguments, but would always make up in the end. You'll always be my smart, athletic, beautiful and slightly annoying cousin. Thank you for the years of joy we shared together. You weren't only my favorite cousin; you were also my best friend."

Ben kissed Gwen on the hand for the last time. Gwen smiled at him and closed her eyes forever.

"Now she belongs to the ages!" Paradox declared.

Tears streamed down Ben's face as he howled and pounded the floor. Everyone knew the cousins were close, but they hadn't expected anything quite like this. Suddenly, Ben slammed on the Omnitrix and transformed back into Alien X.

"What have you got to say for yourselves?" he demanded of Serena and Bellicus.

"Um, we're sorry for your loss," they both said.

"I just lost a cousin! That's all you're going to say?!"

"That's about right. I'm not going to stoop down to your level," Bellicus said.

"I have a feeling you're going through quite a bit of emotional stress, am I right?" asked Serena.

"Yes I am," said Ben.

"And you're seriously contemplating suicide because you can't bear to live without your cousin?" she pressed.

"I was about to say I was going to deliberately provoke the police into shooting me, so yes."

"Good, good. Go off yourself right now so I can be rid of you!" boomed Bellicus.

"You do realize that our little discussions with young Tennyson will come to an end right?" Serena told Bellicus.

"And why in the world should I care?"

"We won't exist without Ben. The Omnitrix is fused with Ben's DNA, so if he goes, so do we."

"I never thought about that." Serena turned to Ben.

"For the first time, I think there is something we can all agree on."

"And what is that exactly?" Ben asked.

"You can't live without your cousin and we can't live without you, so we're going to grant you your wish."

"So you'll bring my cousin back to life?"

"Yeah. I'm doing solely because I can't operate without you and not because I care about your feelings," grumbled Bellicus.

"Your act of dedication convinced me Ben. Your ability to love can conquer death," Serena told Ben.

"Let's get this over with. All in favor of bringing Ben's cousin back to life say 'aye'"

"Aye!" everyone said. Bellicus and Serena worked their magic and reversed the space-time continuum, which brought Gwen back to life without a wound.

Gwen opened her eyes. "Wasn't I just dead? Is that why everyone's staring at me?"

Ben offered her a hand up and she accepted it. "You were dead, but I gave all I had to bring you back to life."

"Hey! Budge over will you?" butted in Kevin. "She accepted my proposal just before she died and now that she came back to life, we're a couple!"

"Now we're just officially dating! Marriage is a long ways off for me!" Gwen warned.

"Celebration at Mr. Smoothy!" yelled Ben.

"We can't. Mr. Smoothy's only in North America, remember doofus?" Gwen said playfully as she gave him a shove with her magic.

"Ah, the old Gwen is back!" Ben sighed happily.

Arm in arm, everyone went to McDonalds to order off the dollar menu.

"I wonder where we're going to go next." Ben said aloud, but almost to himself.

How'd you like it? Emperor Qin was on LSD so that's why he was such an unpredictable character. This is my longest chapter yet (almost as long as my previous 5 chapters combined!) Review please!


	7. Wicked in the land of Frozen (Part 1)

**Incursean Invasion-Part 7**

**M Rated Chapter for all reasons listed below! This is the first chapter of a crossover between Ben 10, Frozen, and Wicked. **

**Contains: GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF INCESTOUS ACTS INCLUDING AN ACTUAL LEMON, THREAT OF RAPE, ADULTS TELLING KIDS TO LIE, STUFF ABOUT PEDOFILES AND FETISHES, SONGS FROM **_**FROZEN AND TITANIC**_**, SEXUAL INNUENDOS, ALLUSIONS TO HARRY POTTER, REFERENCES TO REAL-WORLD FAST FOOD JOINTS, OVERPRICING OF FOOD, WIKIPEDIA BASHING, BROKEN ENGLISH, CAMEO BY CHUCK NORRIS, LOTS OF SWEARING, ETC.**

**Don't read if offended. Don't forget to review!**

McDonalds

"And stay out!" the manager growled as he unceremoniously tossed Upchuck onto the sidewalk. Moments later, Gwen, Kevin, Max, Molly and Rook were tossed out as well.

"That's for bringing this freak show," here the manager pointed to the rotund green alien, "into my establishment!" He slammed the door and put up the "closed indefinitely" sign.

"Really, Ben? Why'd you have to go Upchuck in there?" asked Gwen.

"I couldn't help it! I was really hungry after giving you CPR. I guess the Omnitrix thought I needed a major caloric intake."

"Still doesn't explain how you managed to clean the entire McDonalds out. I think this was the first time they ran out of burgers. Ever!" said Kevin.

The manager poked his head out the door again. "I almost forgot, but here's your bill," he said as he handed Max the receipt and walked back inside.

"Whoa! Would you look at that! The guy wants a million dollars to cover all the food you ate and four million for the scare and loss of business you caused," reported Max.

"We don't have that much!" cried Gwen.

"I know someone who does," said Kevin.

"Argit? Nah! He double-crossed us too many times!" exclaimed Gwen.

"Quite frankly, if he wasn't such of a help reporting on Milleous' activities, we would've had him in Plumber jail right now," said Molly.

"That and the fact that he sells us level 5 tech," chimed in Max. "God knows where we'd be if Argit didn't supply us with those Techadon ion blasters."

"Hmm, it is time we paid a visit," said Rook.

"I have a better idea, but I suppose we could use some weapons for the resistance," said Ben.

"Any idea where Undertown is, Rook?" asked Max.

"Undertown exists here? I thought only Bellwood had an Undertown."

"No, Ben. The aliens tunneled under the Atlantic Ocean and ended up in Europe where they built a second Undertown that is connected to the American one."

"So we can use the tunnel to get back to Bellwood without the Incurseans finding out, right?"

"Exactly."

"You still haven't answered my question, Rook. I don't see the entrance," said Max.

"It is quite simple to find, Magister. Just follow me." Rook lifted up a manhole cover and beckoned to the rest to follow him before jumping into the hole and disappearing. Kevin and Molly followed him without objections, but Gwen was a bit more difficult to persuade.

"Eww. Not the sewer again!" complained Gwen. "I'm not about to jump into there again!"

"Don't look now, but there's an Incursean right behind you!" screamed Ben.

"Attention Earthling scum! I've got a blaster pointed at the back of your head and I don't know how to use it. Therefore it is advised that you don't make any sudden moves or this could end badly for you!" said Max in his best Emperor Milleous impersonation.

"You can't fool me, Gramps. I know it's you!"

"Just get in there!" exclaimed Ben as he gave Gwen a shove, sending her flying into the sewer below.

Beeeeeen! I'll get you for that!" she screamed as she stopped her momentum halfway down the tunnel with a mana platform. Then Gwen tried to grab Ben with a giant mana hand and send him down with her, but Ben was prepared for just such a trick. As the hand reached for him, Ben slammed down on the Omnitrix and cried, "Gravattack!" The red planetoid alien appeared in a flash of green light. Gravattack decreased the gravitational pull of Earth on himself, thereby levitating off the ground. At the same time, he attracted the hand towards himself and began to pull it in a circle, yanking Gwen around underground.

"That's enough, Ben!" ordered Max the fourth time around. "If you don't stop, she's gonna hurl!" Unbeknownst to both of them, Gwen had anticipated something of the sort happening and she had summoned a doppelganger of herself to go in her place for Ben's ride. Thus, Ben was flinging around dead weight.

"I guess that's enough," Ben said as he stopped his gravity bind. At that instant, Gwen cried, _Facio Gravis!, _forcing both Ben and Grandpa Max to crash down into the sewer beside her. Before that happened, Ben transformed into Cannonbolt and wrapped his entire body around his Grandpa to protect him from the fall.

"Oomph!" Cannonbolt grunted as he landed on his backside.

"Serves you right for tricking me!" Gwen told Ben as the latter transformed back into his human version.

"Ok, ok. I got a little carried away back there," admitted Ben.

"All jokes aside, we have to find Rook, Kevin and Molly, "said Max while dusting himself off. The trio walked to the end of the tunnel and into Undertown.

Undertown

The streets were filled with aliens going about their Saturday morning business.

"How are we going to find three people in all this hustle and bustle?" Ben asked.

"How about you try asking the people here?" Gwen told him.

"Ok, wait here then," replied Ben as he left the two standing in the middle of the street while he looked for directions.

"Hello human customer! Welcome to Undertown! I sell you human socks! Very cheap and clean!" a hog alien told Ben as the latter walked past the stall.

"No thanks. I've got some already," Ben replied, pointing to his own socks. "I'm looking for Argit? Have you seen him?"

"Argit, the slimy double-crossing no good of a snake? He's in a partnership with Pakmar right now."

"Why would Pakmar want to do business with Argit?"

"Ever since you destroyed his sponge business, he's been looking for another means of income. Dealing in illegal weapons was the best job he's ever had."

"Ahh thanks," Ben said as he reported back to Gwen and Max.

"I wonder what Pakmar's selling now?" wondered Gwen, aloud.

"Perhaps alien dog food? The sponges never did work!" replied Ben.

"Did they not absorb water?"

"Nah. They worked too well as a matter of fact. The sponges expanded to over 100 times their normal size and squashed Pakmar's shop."

"And I suppose their expanding had something to do with you, Ben?" asked Max.

"It wasn't my fault Grandpa! Pakmar just happened to sell sponges right when I just happened to turn into Water Hazard and blast the place."

"Why where you even there in the first place? Pakmar hates you!"

"Rook and I were chasing some Forever Knights who always pick Pakmar's place to start a ruckus. And by the way, Pakmar doesn't hate me."

"You should see him when he yells, "Tennyson!" That's your cue that you're unwelcome."

"Well, he still lets me in whenever I visit."

"That's solely cuz he's out to get your money. No matter how much he may hate you, Ben, he still needs you to boost his income."

"Oh please! Don't get me started on that rubbish! The money he gets from me paying damages is more than enough to get him a decent living. And yet old Pakmar's still stuck doing the same job day after day!"

"We can talk about this after we find the store," decreed Grandpa Max. "Come on!"

The trio walked another block before Ben had to stop and get something to eat.

"Really, Ben? Don't you have any sense of urgency?" asked Gwen.

"I'll have some squid kabobs with extra spicy dipping sauce," Ben told the waiter.

'That'll be half a tayden per kabob, sir."

"Half a tadyen? What a rip-off!"

"No money? No food for you!"

"Look man. I'm the famous Ben Tennyson. I've probably saved your behind numerous times. The least you could do for me is to give me some skewers."

"Do you have proof?" Ben slammed down his hand with the Omnitrix on it.

"That's your proof!"

"No elbow on the table please!"

"Fine! How about I transformed into some alien for you?"

"That I would like to see."

Ben dialed in Humungasaur and pressed down on the Omnitrix. Instead, he got Spider-Monkey.

"Humungasaur- oh wait… Spider- Monkey!"

"That's the least threatening creature I have ever seen!" sneered the waiter.

"How about this then?" Ben hit the Omnitrix again and went ultimate. The waiter took one glance at the giant gorilla in front of him and quickly gave the alien his kabobs.

"Thank you sir. Now that wasn't too difficult to do, was it?" grunted Ultimate Spider-Monkey as he chowed down on the food. The waiter watched him with revulsion.

"Make no mistake about it Tennyson! I plan on suing you for blatant intimidation through the use of force!" he cried.

"Yeah, yeah. Join the crowd of Ben-haters," Ben replied as he stomped out of the restaurant. Gwen and Max, who were already tired of waiting for him, waved frantically at him from a few streets ahead.

"Ben! Did you go ultimate again just to get a discount on food?" Max asked reproachfully.

"Yeah. So? It's not like anyone got hurt or something!"

"Ben. You do know that you're the symbol of the entire Plumber organization. Every time you do something stupid, our reputation suffers," Gwen said crossly.

"Yeah, but every time I save the world, that trust is restored," Ben countered.

The bickering went back and forth until they arrived at Pakmar's new shop.

"Wow! Looks like this place got a makeover since last time," Gwen noted, instantly forgetting her argument with Ben.

"That's because last time, I accidentally blew it up."

"I wonder what old Pakmar's up to now. I bet he opened a pet shop this time!"

"No, it's clearly a weapons and armor shop. Read the sign!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Pakarmor and Argistic Securities Incorporated," Ben read the sign aloud. Then he guffawed. "Ha! I bet Argit thought up that name! Pakmar can't speak English properly!"

"Who can't speak properly? Pakmar know correct English!" A little green chameleon alien waddled outside shaking his fist.

"See? You don't understand grammar conventions!" Ben said, trying not to laugh.

"Who said that?! Pakmar smells that rat Ben Tennyson!"

"Dude, refer to yourself in first-person, not third," Ben replied as he stepped out of the shadows.

"You!" Pakmar shouted.

"Yes, me. Not to mention my cousin Gwen and my Grandpa Max," Ben said calmly.

"Get out! Pakmar no want you mess up his business. Last time you make his sponges go Boom!"

"Hey! I'll make sure that never happens again!" Ben protested.

"No, no! Tennyson and relatives not welcome here! Must get out right now!" Pakmar cried as he tried to push Ben from his store. Due to the vast mass difference, all that he succeeded in doing was to tire himself out.

"Now can we go in, Mr. Pakmar, sir?" Gwen asked politely.

"Ah! Pakmar like seeing himself superior to humans! Yes, you and old man can come inside."

"What about Ben?" Max asked.

"He remain outside. No welcome in my store!" Pakmar cried.

"Oh come on! I promise not to damage anything! Why do all you people act like I'm not here?" Pakmar thought for a moment and went back inside. He came out moments later with a piece of paper.

"Here. Read and sign below!"

"What's this?" Ben asked suspiciously before he read it. Then his face turned purple.

"Sign below," Pakmar said sweetly.

"No way! This is completely humiliating!" Ben yelled.

"What is it, Ben?" Gwen asked. He shoved the paper at her without a word. The paper read:

Ben Tennyson-Kontract

He no welcome unless Pakmar say he is.

He may not damage Pakmar merchandise.

If he damage, he must pay.

If can't afford, must be slave for set period of time.

Bad guys come to store and do damage, he must pay, even if he not present at the time.

No fighting in store.

No aliens in store.

No loud talking.

Must address Pakmar as "sir" or "Mr. Pakmar".

Pakmar kick him out anytime Pakmar wants to.

Ben Tennyson signature:

"Just sign it, Ben, so we can go in," Gwen said.

"All right," Ben grumbled as he signed his name on the line. The document was instantly snatched away by Pakmar, who then proceeded to nail it in front of his store.

"What's that for?" Ben asked, curious.

"Now you be reminded of rules every time you pass by Pakmar's store!" Pakmar said as he smiled triumphantly and ushered them inside.

"I have to get rid of that!" Ben thought to himself.

"What you people want? Pakmar doesn't have all day!" Pakmar cried.

"Can we see Argit, please?" Ben asked in the most polite voice he could muster.

"He is in testing room. Don't disturb him!" Pakmar growled.

"Then can you call him and tell him we need to see him?" asked Max.

"I don't think there's any need for that," a voice said. Kevin came out with his hands full of Plumber tech.

"Kevin!" Gwen cried.

"Hey babe. Did you miss me?"

"Don't call me that in public and especially not in front of Grandpa Max!"

"Do my ears deceive me or is my grand-daughter in love with an ex-con?" Grandpa Max smirked.

"Yeah, about that. I forgot to tell you. Sorry Grandpa!" said Ben.

"Don't get me wrong, Gwen. I don't disapprove. I'd just appreciate it if you told me about it sooner."

"Thanks Grandpa!"

"Just don't get all touchy- feely in front of me," Ben said.

"Ben! That's disgusting!" Gwen yelled.

"So, Kevin. I see you brought the Mark 12 Techadorian Multiblasters," said Max, quickly changing the subject.

"Yup, just as you asked." Kevin tossed the stash of weapons he found into the metal case Max had brought. There was suddenly a commotion from the experimental laboratory.

"Make way! Coming through!" Molly cried as she burst from the double doors, on fire.

"My God! You're on fire!" Ben cried as he moved to slam down on the Omnitrix.

"Nooooo! No aliens in my store!" Pakmar cried as he leapt onto Ben's arm and sank his teeth into the tender flesh of the forearm (Ok, Pakmar's really short and can't jump that high), prompting Ben to cry out in pain.

"YEOW! GET HIM OFF OF ME!" Ben screamed. Gwen managed to grab Pakmar's stubbly little legs and drag him off of her cousin, leaving inch long teeth marks on the skin. Ben noticed the blood spurting out of his arm and felt queasy.

"Damn it! I can't help someone on fire when I'm hurt myself!" he complained.

"For crying out loud, Ben! I can heal you, remember?" Gwen said.

"Where's your manliness now, Tennyson? Are you a hypocrite when it come to yourself and pain tolerance?" Kevin sneered.

"Not helping Kevin!" Gwen hissed. "Go on, Ben. Transform into Water Hazard."

"You be breaking rules 2 and 7 simultaneously, Tennyson!" Pakmar warned.

"Oh shut it! You'll be lucky if I don't get rabies from you!" Ben grumbled as he transformed into… Heatblast? Ben groaned when he realized he had transformed into the Pyronite.

"Great! Just when we didn't need any more fire, you turn me into a walking inferno!" Ben seethed.

"Actually Ben, that was a great move!" Max said.

"And why is that, exactly?"

"Well, let's see. You're a molten fireball. That ought to trigger the sprinkler system and douse the fire. Of course, it probably won't affect you much," Kevin replied.

"Dang it Tennyson! Why do you always manage to find a loophole in my rules?" Pakmar asked as the sprinkler system activated, doused Molly and flooded the entire store.

"Whoa! Did your English just improve or what?" Ben asked, surprised.

"Yes! I just learned marvelous things about your beautiful language!"Pakmar cried as he triumphantly waved _English for Dummies (Woods)_ aloft.

"Including?" Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Max asked.

"Elmo on Sesame Street was wrong about using the third-person!"

"I always thought there was something fishy with that red menace, but I never knew what until now," Kevin said.

"Um, why are we standing waist deep in an ocean of water and still having a casual conversation? Shouldn't we be panicking right about now?!" screamed Ben as he hit the Omnitrix again and transformed back into a human. "And by the way, I'm still bleeding here."

"Oh we'll be fine! The water's rising much too slowly for us to drown," replied Gwen as she fixed his bite mark.

"At least make us a boat or something so we won't get hypothermia? The water's freezing!" Kevin complained.

"Boys," Gwen murmured as she created said boat to pluck everyone out of the water. They all clambered onto the boat, gasping for breath.

"That was the most fun I've had in several years! What's next?" asked Max.

"You must pay for damages to my store Tennyson!" screamed Pakmar.

"Later. First, we have to get Rook out of the laboratory."

"The laboratory?!" Molly exclaimed. "Rook and I were fighting Argit's Techadon robots in there before I left because I was on fire. Rook and Argit are still in there…"

"Facing overpowered robots that can regenerate and a hidden danger they don't yet know about!" Ben finished.

"That basically sums it up, yeah."

"We have to go in there and save Rook!" Ben exclaimed.

"Anyone want to play hero?" Kevin asked.

""Us three," Ben indicated Gwen, himself and Kevin, "shall go."

"Careful, Ben. Are you sure you don't want my expertise?" Max asked.

"No. I can't keep relying on you to help me. I have to be a leader on my own!"

"You aren't exactly at that level yet, Ben, but you'll get there someday, I promise," Gwen said encouragingly as Kevin snickered. Gwen glared at him.

"What? Am I not entitled to my own opinion?" he said defensively. Max, Pakmar and Molly got off the boat and went into a watertight compartment.

"All right, Gwen. I need you to bust down that laboratory door on my count. When the water rushes in, we'll have to jump. I'll transform into AmpFibian and you guys can grab onto my tentacles," Ben said.

"Got it. Just try not to shock us!" Gwen replied.

"Ready? THREE…TWO…ONE…NOW!"Ben shouted.

"_Fallum Quarca Daminigan!"_ Gwen cried. The door glowed purple around the edges and then blew off its hinges. The water rushed in, swamping the boat.

"Abandon ship!" Kevin cried as he leapt into the water. Two other splashes indicated that Ben and Gwen had followed. Ben slowly sank into the water as he struggled to reach the surface. _Come on Omnitrix, give me Amphibian! _Ben hit the Omnitrix and hoped for the best. Instead he got an alien that resembled Victor Krum's improperly applied transfiguration._ Well, it could have been worse. At least this guy can swim. _Ben swam off to look for Gwen and Kevin. He found Gwen near the entrance to the lab, still frantically searching for Kevin, who had disappeared. She had a dome around her head to trap air so she could breathe. Ben swam over to her and smacked her hard in the small of the back with his tail to get her attention. She turned around angrily.

"That hurt you know!" she hissed. Ben shook his head and pointed up with his tail. Gwen understood, grabbed onto his tail and held on for dear life until Ben broke the surface of the water.

"You know I can't talk underwater with this alien," he gasped.

"Ripjaws?"

"Is that his name? I haven't used him in like six years!"

"Have you seen Kevin at all after he leaped?"

"No. I saw you searching for him earlier. We better go down and look again."

Gwen grabbed onto Ripjaws' tail again and he dove back into the water, this time to look for Kevin. After another five painfully long minutes, they finally found him floating near the front of the store, unconscious from hitting his head on golden plaque with Argit's head on it. Luckily, Kevin had the foresight to absorb the dollar coin in his pocket and survived the otherwise lethal hit. Ben was in a bit of a dilemma._ Hmm, how will I get him up to the surface? My hands are too stubby to hold him and Gwen's already occupied a spot on my tail. I guess I'll have to improvise._ Ben motioned to Gwen to lift Kevin up by the armpits. He then clamped his jaws onto Kevin's torso and indicated to Gwen that it was time to go. She grabbed onto his tail again and Ben swam over to a platform in the laboratory built for target practice. Gwen hopped off his tail and half carried, half dragged Kevin onto the platform where she laid him out on the floor. Ben transformed back into his human form.

"This time, you do it. It was quite awkward last time, you know," he told her.

"Awkward? In what way?"

"I had to take off your clothes to save you and it was hard not to stare at your "woman parts" while I worked."

"LOL! Lusting over your cousin like that! You are such a perv! I suppose you got a hard-on from that?"

"Yes," Ben admitted. "It's what happens when I'm around attractive girls, ok?"

"You think I'm attractive?"

"Ever since you and I hit puberty, maybe even before that."

"I love you too, Ben, but you know as well as I do that we can't be together. It's called incest for a reason."

"I know that. Let's talk to Grandpa about it later, ok?"

"Agreed. Right now, let's focus on saving Kevin!"

"We can't save him if we're freezing ourselves. How about I change into Heatblast to warm us up? Pun intended." She punched him on the shoulder playfully.

"Seriously, Ben. No more innuendos."

"Ok, ok!" Ben hit the Omnitrix and transformed into Big Chill. _Oh great, another useless alien._

"Come on, Ben. I'm freezing here! Can't your Omnitrix work for once?"

"I'm trying to make it work, but the stupid thing won't obey!" Big Chill replied in his ghostly voice. He wacked it half a dozen times.

"Careful, Ben. You don't want to wreck it again, like last time."

"I know what I'm doing! Just give me a few seconds."

"Omnitrix Master Control unlocked," the Omnitrix computerized voice said.

"Excellent! Now I can transform into any alien I want and without a recharge time! Man, I've wanted to re-unlock this feature since you were still an annoying brat, Gwen! You still remember those times?"

"Hmm? Don't remind me. I'm glad you changed into the person you are today, Ben, instead of the jerk you were eight years ago."

"Ahh, good times those were when we were young and naïve."

"Perhaps you were, but I know I wasn't!"

"Oh really? I think you still kind of are naïve. You always see the good in people!"

"I'm not a pessimist like you, Ben. Some people can change for the good. You just have to give them a while."

"Ahem, case in point: Charmcaster. She hated us when we were ten, hates us in the present and will probably hate us in the future until she dies of skin cancer. Whatever you did two years ago to try and get her to repent obviously didn't work. She still hates our guts!"

"Just transform into Heatblast! I'm cold and wet!"

"Right. Sorry!" Ben transformed into Heatblast and fired a lava blast at her. Gwen sandwiched the lava between two sheets of mana and threw it around herself as a sort of makeshift thermal blanket. After around thirty seconds, she was no longer cold and her clothes had dried out. Immediately, she ran over to Kevin and pounded on his chest to get the water out. It worked in that sense, but Kevin still wasn't breathing. Gwen gave him rescue breaths. Nothing. Ben transformed back.

"Any other ideas?" Gwen asked. Ben transformed into AmpFibian.

"How's this going to help?" she asked.

"I can give electric shocks, right? I use my tentacles as primitive paddles…" the jellyfish alien began.

"And restart his heart?" Gwen finished. "Ben, you're a genius! The only problem is that Kevin's all wet. We all know what happens when wet stuff and electricity come together."

"If that's the only problem…" Ben hit the Omnitrix again, bypassing his regular human form due to master control, and transformed into XLR8. He procured a beach towel and wiped Kevin dry in three seconds. He then transformed back into AmpFibian and hovered over Kevin.

"Ready?"

"What we're doing reminds me of what Pikachu did to Ash during the first Pokémon movie. Go!" AmpFibian shocked Kevin with 200 volts. Nothing happened. He tried again with 700 volts. This time, Kevin opened his eyes and coughed out some water. AmpFibian failed to notice and shocked him again with 1,200 volts. Kevin was knocked unconscious again!

"Ben! He was ok before you shocked him the last time."

"Sorry!" AmpFibian shocked Kevin once more with 1,200 volts. Kevin woke up again.

"Dude! I was fine at 700!" He yelled.

"Sorry about that!"

"So, what did I miss?"

"Nothing really important. Let's go get Rook and Argit!" Ben quickly ran off to find the access panel to the training room, leaving Kevin and Gwen behind.

"Now, what really happened?" Kevin asked.

"Oh, it's just like Ben said. Absolutely nothing!" She ran off too. _I have a feeling both of them aren't telling the complete truth. I wonder what that truth is._ Kevin went in after them. Ben was staring at a control panel that activated the door in front of him, which led to the training room. Loud bangs could be heard coming from that room, indicating a major fight.

"What's the problem?" Kevin asked.

"We can't get in without the access code and we can't rip down the door either," Ben told him.

"Let me see that." Kevin edged closer to the screen and saw the problem: I am Argit. What three things do I love more than anything in the world?

"Seriously? You can't answer this?" Kevin asked the two of them.

"Well, we thought since you hung out with Argit a lot, you would know what he loves," Gwen said.

"Good point." He typed in: Money_Fame_Power. The door slid open. The carnage was immediately evident. Half the room was completely destroyed and the other half was about to get the same treatment. Sparks from torn electrical cables ignited a large fire that engulfed the break room. Two Techadon robots were stalking the ruins looking for Rook and Argit, oblivious to all the destruction they were causing. For them, the only thing that mattered was the complete and utter annihilation of anyone who crossed their path. Rook and Argit had long abandoned the lower levels of the complex and beat a hasty retreat up to the control room where they frantically tried to power down the robots to no avail.

"Why isn't this working?" Argit cried as he pummeled the emergency shut-off button. "I've used the robots a hundred times and they never gave me any trouble."

"Perhaps the controls are damaged? That is why they are not working," Rook replied.

"What are we going to do? If we stay here, we'll die! If we leave, we'll die!"

"Calm down, Argit. I am sure Ben and the others will come and rescue us from our predicament." Right about this moment, the whole control tower gave a violent lurch and tipped sideways. Argit screamed and grabbed Rook around the neck as the tower began to collapse.

"Rook, buddy. I guess this is the end. Would you care to sing one last song with me?"

"It is not over yet!" Rook exclaimed as he shot a grappling hook out of his proto-tool and snagged the edge of the tower. It did not help with righting the tower and served only to increase the rate of collapse. Seeing this, Argit began to sing.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;

Still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee

"We are not on the Titanic."

"We're about to die, are we not?"

"Yes. I just feel that the song you are singing is not appropriate for the occasion."

The grappling hook finally broke free and the pair began their hundred foot free-fall into a fiery death below.

"Oh the humanity! We're about to die!" Argit screamed.

"Not if I can help it!" Gwen cried. _Contigo!_ A purple sphere of mana enclosed Rook and Argit before they could hit the lava below. Ben then transformed into Gravattack and reeled them in.

"Ben! You finally came!" Rook cried.

"Yeah. Sorry I'm late."

"Let's catch up later. We have to get out while we still can. The whole structure is going to collapse soon!" Kevin said. They made to run out of the complex, but they were blocked by the two robots.

"Not you guys again," Argit groaned.

"Step aside. We'll handle this," Ben told him. Ben hit the Omnitrix and transformed into the Worst. Argit slinked away past the two guards and outside.

"Hoho! What is that Tennyson?" Kevin snorted.

"I hate this one. I'm a walking human punching bag."

"Oh, so you feel no pain?"

"Correction, he feels only pain," said Rook. The two Techadons charged. Everyone else ducked for cover. The Worst just stood there.

"Ben! Run!" screamed Gwen.

"Do not worry about him. Like I said, he was built for pain."

The first Techadon threw Ben into a wall. The wall collapsed and buried Ben.

"Noooo!" Gwen cried. She made to go to his rescue and jumped out from behind the rock that that they had all taken cover behind.

"Ms. Tennyson! Come back!" When she didn't listen, Rook and Kevin jumped out to aid her.

"I'm ok!" the yellow alien said from under the rubble. "I can't dig myself out though."

Gwen lifted the wall off her cousin with her powers. "You ok, Ben?"

"Oww. Why does it hurt so much?"

"I told you that you were indestructible, not that you would not feel pain," Rook shouted as the two Techadons advanced on him.

"You guys cover me. I'm going to transform into Grey-Matter and rewire their systems," Ben gasped.

"You do realize we won't be able to stop them," said Gwen.

"But we can hold them up," Kevin said. He absorbed some rocks on the ground and covered himself with them. He shaped his right arm into a lance and his left into a hammer.

"Now we're talking! Let's rock and roll!" he said. Gwen surrounded him in a sphere and sent him flying at the nearest Techadon. In one motion, Kevin's right hand went through the robot's midsection. At the same time, he took off the robot's head with one blow of his hammer.

"Score one for the team!" He cried.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Ben warned as the robot reassembled itself and gained a new weapon: a grenade launcher.

"Watch out! RPG!" Gwen cried. She covered everyone with a dome just as the robot fired the grenade into the ceiling and collapsed the cave on top of them. The Techadon came at them through the smoke and debris, firing steadily. Gwen reflected one of the cannon blasts and a giant hole appeared in the robot's midsection as before. Before the robot could repair itself, Rook turned fired his proto-tool equipped with a wrench to keep the hole open. The Tecadon struggled to wretch the wrench from itself.

"Hurry, Ben. I cannot hold him forever!" Rook cried. Ben transformed into Grey Matter and hopped onto the robot.

"This is very easy. I just need to disconnect this red wire, attach it to this blue wire and smack it on the head once and the robot should attack his pal over there."

"Just do it already!" Kevin groaned. "That is, everything except for the smacking. I want to do it."

"And why is that? Do you have some kind of weird fetish for slapping things?"

"Maybe."

"Ok, I'll leave you to do your thing." Ben reconnected the wires and hopped off. Kevin walked up to the robot and walloped him on the noggin… a bit too hard.

"Oh yeah. That felt good," Kevin moaned. The head flew off again, but this time, the robot didn't fix itself, for Ben had disabled that feature.

"Oh boy. We have to find the head again?" Ben complained after transforming back.

"You just had to satisfy your urge to hit things, didn't you?" Gwen said to Kevin, exasperated.

"Hey! I had a rough childhood, ok?"

"Can you track where the head went, Gwen?" asked Ben.

"No. It doesn't give off mana."

"How about using Lodestar, Ben? The head is made of metal, so you will be able to attract it with your magnetic powers," suggested Rook.

Ben frowned. "I personally don't see the point of this. I mean, we could just distract the robot long enough to escape, right?"

"That would take too long," Gwen said.

"I'm doing it my way!" Ben announced as he ran towards the remaining robot near the door.

"Should we go after him?" Rook asked with an air of concern.

"Nah! He's got it covered," said Kevin as they watched Ben transform into Goop.

"Hey Ugly! Over here!" Ben taunted the robot with Goop's screechy voice. The Techadon lumbered towards Goop.

"Pathetic human! I'll squash you like a bug!" It proclaimed in an artificial, mechanical voice as it tried to incinerate him with a flamethrower.

"First you'll have to catch me!" Goop cried. Goop dodged the flames and gummed up the flame-throwing mechanism. The robot glanced down to find itself holding a useless weapon.

"Ha! You have no more weapons you can use!" Goop screeched as he dove in for the kill.

"Negative. Switching from primary to secondary," the Techadon relied. The robot pulled out an M242 Bushmaster.

"Say hello to me little friend. Hahaha," it said in a monochromatic voice as it opened fire. Goop was riddled with over 200 bullets, but he would have been fine if the shots hadn't also destroyed his anti-gravity projector. The strain forced Ben to transform back (with no gunshot wounds). He lay sprawled out on the cave floor with the robot standing over him.

"Oh shit! I'm gonna die!" Ben cried out in fear.

"Prepare for extermination!" the Techadon robot exclaimed as it transformed its autocannon into a katana and prepared to chop Ben's head off. Ben closed his eyes. _Do it quickly, do it quickly, do it quickly!_ The robot raised the katana above its head.

"Hang on, Ben! I'll save you!" Kevin cried as he leapt out from cover, absorbed some sheet metal, and ran towards Ben. He didn't make it five yards before he tripped on a rock.

"The pleasure shall be mine," Rook replied as he too leapt out of cover and over the fallen Kevin. The Techadon was in the process of doing a downwards stroke to lop Ben's head off.

"Ms. Tennyson, I need a speed boost!" Rook cried. Gwen formed a giant hand out of mana, and chucked Rook at the Tecadon. Rook unsheathed his proto-sword mid-flight and angled it to intercept the Techadon's katana. The proto-sword caught the katana an inch from Ben's neck. Rook parried the blow away, but his weapon broke under the strain. Rook ducked under the first swing, but the second swing cut his left arm off at the elbow.

"Aggh! My arm!" Rook cried as blue revonnahgander blood gushed out.

"How about I return the favor and save your life now?" Ben said. Then he grinned.

"Just do it already, Ben!" Gwen snapped.

"It's hero time!" Ben announced as he transformed into Ditto. Ben groaned.

"The hell am I supposed to do with this guy?" Ditto complained.

"Um, split up?" suggested Kevin.

"And what do I do after that?"

Gwen ripped out a chunk of the cave wall and dumped it at Ditto's feet. "Figure something out and do it fast!" Rook was cradling his maimed arm with his other hand while running around trying not to get hit by the crossbow bolts of the deranged Techadon robot, which kept missing for fun.

"Haha, puny Revonnahgander. You cannot run forever!" The Techadon laughed as he aimed bolt after bolt at Rook. Ditto picked up the wall.

"It's about time I split myself" he said as he split into five different clones, each with a piece of the wall. The Ditto clones all broke the wall into pebble sized pieces. The Techadon was in the process of shooting Rook in the head to end his suffering when a large amount of stones hit him in the back.

"What is the meaning of this?" the robot cried as the stones dented his armor.

"I thought I'd give you a little lesson in stoning. You know, some parts of the world still use stoning as a form of capital punishment."

"This is inhumane!" the Techadon protested.

"Hark, who's talking? You cut off Rook's hand and gave him a mock execution!"

"Ben, don't do it!" Gwen cried as she and Kevin emerged from cover and walked over to Ben, who transformed back.

"You're the one who gave me a piece of the wall and told me to use my imagination!" Ben retorted.

"If you follow through, you're no better than any of the other villains we've faced."

"I don't think stoning a robot counts. It's not even human!"

"Hey! I have emotions you know!" the Techadon cried.

"Oh shut up! All your emotions were programmed into you by Argit!"

"Why are you opposed to me destroying it?" Ben asked Gwen.

"I didn't say that. I just don't like the use of torture to do so."

"That settles it. I can club the robot over the head then," exclaimed Kevin.

"Kevin!" Gwen cried, shocked. "What did I just tell Ben NOT to do?"

"What's wrong? I'll just hit it once and knock it unconscious. It's not torture if the thing you're torturing can't feel it."

"Kevin E. Levin! I can't believe I let myself become your girlfriend!"

"Calm down, baby! We're talking about a robot here!"

While the two were arguing, the Techadon snuck up behind them and prepared to sic Kevin with a sickle. The two were too busy shouting to notice.

"Kevin, Gwen! Duck!" Ben shouted. Gwen threw herself on the ground and the blade passed inches above her head. Kevin absorbed some rock and the blade got stuck in his neck.

"Dang it! I can't even kill someone by cheating!" the Techadon exclaimed as it struggled to remove the blade from Kevin's neck.

"Need a hand with that?" Kevin asked. He yanked the blade from his own neck.

"Parley?" the robot asked.

"Sorry, but I don't speak French," Kevin replied as he decapitated the robot.

"Help me! I am dying!" Rook screamed, running around in a circle, as Kevin came back.

"Come over here and hold still so I can fix your mangled arm," Gwen told him. Rook continued to scream his head off. Finally, after two more minutes of trying unsuccessfully to get Rook to calm down, Gwen lost patience and trapped him in a bubble. Rook started banging on the bubble, begging to be let out.

"I am not done announcing my pain!" he screamed.

"Well, the rest of us have heard just about enough of your screaming. Isn't that right, boys?" she asked Ben and Kevin.

"I find it hilarious the things that Rook does when he's in pain," Kevin replied.

"All the more reason to break up with you, Kevin."

"Please let me out! I shall not run anymore!" Rook screamed.

"Fine." Gwen deactivated the shield. Rook resumed running.

"Ahhh! The pain is too much!" he said while running a circle.

"Come here, Rook, so I can heal you!" Gwen shouted. She grabbed him by the stump of his right arm.

"Do not touch that! It is very sensitive!" Gwen ignored him. Rook grimaced as Gwen reattached his arm and siphoned away the blood.

"Rook! Thank God you're back to normal!" Ben screamed as he ran over and hugged the blue alien.

"I was not normal before?" Rook asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, you were running around screaming," Gwen told him.

"Sorry about that." The cave suddenly began to shake.

"Earthquake! Everyone take cover!" Ben shouted as he dove into inlet.

"No! The whole thing is collapsing!" Gwen screamed.

"It is imperative that we get out before it does," Rook observed.

"Nice going, Einstein! I wouldn't have thought of that before!" Kevin yelled.

"I am not Albert Einstein."

"Let's see. How are we going to get out of this?" Ben asked.

"Come on, Ben. We don't have much time!" Gwen yelled as she erected a shield to prevent the cave from killing them.

"I could transform into XLR8 and transport you one-at- a-time out of here."

"That'll take too much time," Kevin said.

"Any ideas, Rook?" Ben asked his partner.

"The Proto-tool just so happens to function as a hover-board, but only one person can be on at a time. Furthermore, I cannot use it since the proto-tool is currently damaged beyond repair."

"Is that all? Jury-Rigg can fix it for you in a jiffy," Ben told him.

"You're planning to go and retrieve it in this?" Gwen asked as they all heard her shield start cracking from the weight of a five-ton boulder.

"I'll go as XLR8." Ben transformed into the striped velociraptor.

"Be careful now. I wouldn't want you to get hurt," Gwen said.

"Don't worry about me, worry about that shield!" Ben replied. Gwen grinned.

"Shields are my specialty."_Thrasius!_ She cried. A diamond-like shield materialized and successfully deflected the rocks. Ben ran off to retrieve Rook's broken weapon, relying on his speed to dodge the falling boulders. He was back in one minute, cradling the two halves in his claws. Rook appeared crestfallen.

"I do not see how you can fix this, Ben. It is too heavily damaged," he said, pointing to the broken red wire protruding from the gun.

"Just leave it to me," Ben replied as he transformed into Jury-Rigg, the little red devil with a knack for breaking and fixing.

"Fix, fix, fix, fix, fix, fix, fix!" Jury-Rig cried as he took apart Rook's weapon.

"Ben! What are you doing?!" Rook cried as he grabbed a hold of the little alien. Jury-Rigg looked at Rook with his mean little eyes.

"Fix, fix, fix, fix, fix, fix, fix!" he pouted.

"I'm pretty sure that's all he can say," Kevin told Rook.

"I can tell."

"Let him go, Rook. You do want your proto-tool fixed, don't you?" asked Gwen.

Rook finally let Jury-Rigg go. The alien crackled evilly as he repaired Rook's Proto-tool. Meanwhile, the shield seemed to be holding up, but Gwen was on the verge of exhaustion.

"Guys, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!" she cried as the shield began to waver.

"Ben! Are you almost done?" asked Rook.

"Yeah I am," Ben said as he transformed back and handed Rook his Proto-tool. Rook pushed a few buttons and flicked a lever. The Proto-tool beeped twice and transformed into a hover-board. Ben watched, impressed.

"Thanks for your part of the contribution to our escape. Now it's my turn!" Ben transformed into Upgrade. The Galvanic Mechamorph attached itself to Rook's Proto-board. One second later, the upgraded board appeared with a larger passenger capacity, shatter-proof windows, and a music player that played Ben's favorite music, currently any and all of the music from _Frozen_. Everyone ran on and Rook closed the hatch, just as Gwen's shield died completely as she collapsed. Luckily, Ben had designed a pop-out bed which they placed Gwen on to rest after her ordeal. The only thing left to do was to decide who got to pilot the craft. Kevin conveniently decided to stay behind with his girlfriend to "take care of her", leaving Ben and Rook to duke it out. The fight was pretty ugly.

"All right Rook. It's time to decide which one of us is better at hand-to-hand combat!"

"I thought we already agreed on this. It is clearly I who am your superior."

"We shall see. How about you deal with Kickin' Hawk!" Ben shouted as he transformed into the bird of prey.

"You still look like an overgrown chicken to me," Rook exclaimed as he yanked on some feathers.

"This chicken's got some serious kung-fu moves, so watch out!" Ben opened with a karate-chop to the head. Rook blocked with his left forearm and swept his legs under Ben's, knocking the boy onto the ground. The whole ship was sound-proof so no one heard their battle or Gwen, who had woken up by now, would have broken it up. Rook tried to end it by punching Ben in the face to give him a black eye, but Ben grabbed the fist and twisted until Rook moaned in pain and was forced to let go. Now it was Rook on the defensive as Ben chased him around the cabin. Rook successfully countered all of Kickin' Hawk moves and Ben began to grow desperate. That's when he tapped into his dark side and unleashed his full fury on poor Rook. Ben delivered a vicious side kick to Rook's throat which the latter blocked, but only just. While Rook was occupied, Ben's right claw came up and punched Rook in the gut, leaving him staggering, out of breath. Ben was about to finish Rook off when Kevin emerged from the elevator, oblivious as to what was happening.

"La da de da, sex, sex, sex, Gwen, Gwen, Gwen, moan, moan mo…"

"What the hell!" Kevin screamed.

"Must win at any cost! Must kill Rook!" Ben said.

"Ben! What are you doing?!" Kevin screamed as Rook barely dodged another punch.

"Oh, nothing. Just killing," was the response.

"Stop this madness right now!" Kevin ordered.

"Or else what?" Ben laughed. "Who's going to stop me?"

"I'm warning you, Ben. Don't make me hurt you," said Kevin.

"Really? What makes you think you can take me on?"

"This button right here!" Kevin yelled as he pressed on it._ I don't know what this one does, but Ben's out of control._ Nothing happened.

Ben sneered. "Is that the best you can do? I think killing you will be even easier than baking apple pie!" He started towards Kevin, but never made it there. A force field sprang up separating the pair.

"What's going on? I can't move!" Then it dawned on him. "Gwen! She must have done this from her bed," Ben raged.

"No, it was that button that I pushed."

"It didn't do anything! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"It was the perfect surprise attack."

"Let me out!"

"No, not until we get rid of whatever is processing you," Rook told him.

"You can't keep me in here! I want out!"

"All in good time, all in good time," said Rook, soothingly.

"Don't baby me!"

"Excuse me?"

_I can turn into another alien and bust my way out. Yeah, that's what I'll do._ Ben went from Kickin' Hawk to Atomix and tried to use a nuclear meltdown to melt his way out of the field. It kind of worked, but extremely slowly, giving Rook and Kevin time to figure out what to do.

"What can we do?" asked Kevin as they watched Atomix melt through another layer of the field, leaving only twenty more to go.

"We must extract the evil being that is controlling the mind of Ben."

"Really? You couldn't have said Ben's mind?"

"I do not wish to use your Earthly contractions."

"Ok, where's this thinginmajiger?"

"Excuse me?" Rook asked politely as Ben melted through another five layers.

"You know, the button to press, the lever to pull?"

"I do not know where this so-called magical fail-safe resides. This was, after all, a machine designed by Ben."

"Let's start punching buttons then! We've only got maybe ten minutes left!"

Rook and Kevin tore around the room pulling/slamming any and every button/lever in site, releasing and imprisoning Ben eighty-five times. The whole process took around nine minutes and forty-five seconds. As Ben melted through the final barrier, Kevin punched the final button and a soul-extraction syringe popped out. Rook caught it.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" Rook asked.

"Stab it into Ben when he comes after us and it'll get rid of whatever's inside him."

"Ah, ok."

"I'll fight him and you stab when you get the opportunity," Kevin told Rook as he absorbed some ship metal. Atomix stumbled towards the pair of them firing his atom cannons. Rook rolled under one as it came at him and vaporized the sound-proof door, making every sound after that clearly noticeable. Ben stumbled after Rook despite Kevin trying to look like an inviting target by standing still. Kevin gave up after a minute and ran at Ben with his sword-arm lowered like a battering ram. Ben noticed and walked towards Kevin without attempting to fire. _What is Ben doing? Why isn't he trying to kill me?_

"Arrgh!" Kevin screamed as he ran towards Ben. Kevin's sword hit Ben in the stomach and instantly disintegrated due to Atomix's highly corrosive and radioactive body. Ben looked down and smiled.

"Homina Homina Homina-Nuclear-Tackle!" Atomix boomed as he collided with Kevin on the near frictionless surface. Momentum was conserved, but since Atomix was much heavier than Kevin due to Atomix being a walking nuclear reactor, Kevin was sent flying into the window with a sickening crunch while Atomix remained unfazed. He stood over Kevin while he prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

"So, Kevin E. Levin, you have finally met your demise! I'm tired you always getting between Gwen and me."

"So, you're in love with her? That's incest!"

"Oh don't worry. She already knows about it."

"That's what you two have been hiding. I should have known all along!" Kevin cried as he face-palmed himself.

"Any last words before I finish you?"

"Yeah, just three. I think not!" Kevin cried as he leapt up and shoved Atomix. The move surprised Ben so much that he stumbled backwards- right into Rook and his syringe. A green Ectonurite screamed as his DNA was sucked into the syringe.

"You haven't heard the last of Zs' Skayr!" he vowed. Then he vanished. Ben groggily opened his eyes and looked around.

"Man, I just had the weirdest dream… wait, I don't think it was a dream, was it?" he asked.

"You tell me, Tennyson," groaned Kevin as he sat up, rubbing his head. "You just gave me a serious beat-down, one I'll probably never forget."

"What happened?"

"You and I were having a friendly sparring match to see who would pilot the ship and I think you did not like the thought of losing. In your rage, you let a dark being take over. You were possessed by him and tried to kill me," said Rook.

"How did Kevin get involved? I thought he was caring for Gwen."

"We were finished. I was making my way to the cockpit when I heard you two fighting. You seemed out of control, so I had to stop you from killing Rook. We trapped you in a force-field long enough for Rook to extract the evil force inside you."

"Who was it?"

"Who's the only villain we've fought who tried to get in your head?" Kevin asked.

"That's villains with an 's'."

"Huh?"

"Vilgax tried to get in my head after I beat the Diagon, remember?"

"I meant what villain has successfully penetrated you head."

"Only one. Zs' Skayr."

"You have your answer then." Just then, Gwen came up to the bridge.

"I heard explosions, glass breaking, Ben as Atomix, Kevin screaming in pain, Ben trying to kill Kevin, Rook stabbing Ben, and the voice of Zs' Skayr. Anyone want to explain to me what's going on?"

"I don't know what I did. Rook, help me out here," Ben told Rook.

"I was running for my life. Kevin, you tell her."

"Fine! But first, I want an honest confession from you, Gwen."

"What do you want me to confess?"

"Something simple. Are you cheating on me?"

"I d-don't k-know what you're talking about," Gwen stammered.

"Ha! That means you're guilty. All guilty people stammer. I've seen it proven in a study done by world-renowned scientists. The correlation between stammering and guilt is extremely high."

" Remember, Kevin, correlation does not prove causation. Just because Gwen stutters doesn't means she's guilty of something."

"You coming to your cousin's defense. More evidence!"

"Hey! I happen to care about her, ok?"

"Define your relationship with your cousin then."

"Close."

"How close?"

"Love."

"Purely platonic or physical?"

"Kevin, of course it's platonic. Incest is disgusting."

"Then how come I heard you say you want to commit incest with your cousin?"

"Ben!" said Gwen in mock surprise. "You said that?"

"Don't look at me. Ghostfreak made me say it."

"I see. Blame it on the dead guy."

"He is not technically dead. I am still holding onto him as we speak," Rook said. "And now, I am going to get rid of him, forever." Rook tossed the syringe containing Zs'Skayr out the window into a lava pit.

"Oh would you look at that! I think I won. That means I get to pilot this craft," Ben said, changing the subject. He quickly fixed the room and isolated himself with the controls.

"Don't think you can avoid this, Ben!" Kevin called. A moment later, they heard Ben's voice over the PA.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome aboard MultiverseAirlines. This is your captain, the famous celebrity like, the one, the only, Ben Tennyson! Please fashion your seatbelts and don't remove them for the duration of the flight. We will be landing shortly. In the meantime, please enjoy some music from my favorite movie musical."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Gwen.

"What's wrong? Is it Ben's shitty music taste?" asked Kevin.

"Yes. "

"Any music that Ben enjoys, so do I," proclaimed Rook.

"Not when it's this music."

And "Vuelie" came out of the loudspeakers.

Na na na heyana  
Hahiyaha naha  
Naheya heya na yanuwa  
Anhahe yunuwana

Na na na heyana  
Hahiyaha naha  
Naheya heya na yanuwa  
Anhahe yunuwana

Na na na heyana  
Hahiyaha naha  
Naheya heya na yanuwa  
Anhahe yunuwana

Na na na heyana  
Hahiyaha naha  
Naheya heya na yanuwa  
Anhahe yunuwana (ha ha ya)

Nuwa nu  
Nuwa heya nu  
Nuwa nu  
Nuwa heya nu  
Nuwa nu  
Nuwa nu

Na na na heyana  
Hahiyaha naha  
Naheya heya na yanuwa  
Anhahe yunuwana

The song drowned out all attempts by Kevin to continue the conversation about Gwen's relationship with Ben.

"I enjoyed this song," Rook said. "Are there any others like it?"

"Please, no more!" Gwen and Kevin screamed.

"At least someone appreciates my music! Yes Rook, there's another one and a half hours of this."

"Kill me now," Kevin told Gwen.

"Wait a minute," Ben said. "I didn't say I would play all of it. There's no need to. We're arriving right now."

"Thank God this is over," both Kevin and Gwen said as Ben landed the ship and they all climbed out.

"More! More!" Rook screamed like a child.

"Calm down, Rook!" everyone else screamed.

"Huh? What did I just experience?"

"I'd say you have _Frozen_ syndrome. That means you are addicted to anything related to the musical," Gwen told him.

"When is this going to go away?"

"You can only cure it by making yourself sick of it. Ben's apparently immune since it's been a whole year and he still hasn't shown signs of letting it go," Kevin said with a wink.

"What did I tell you about making _Frozen_ references?" Gwen growled.

"So how did you guys get rid of your addiction?"

"We both listened to "Let it Go" in 45 different languages. The whole thing took over two hours."

"I see."

"We better go find Grandpa Max and the others," Ben said.

"Good idea," Rook replied. "Where are they?"

"Give me a moment," Gwen said as she performed a detection spell. "Got it. They're in a small watertight room about 100 yards away from us." They reached the room and knocked on the door. Argit opened it.

"My buddies! I thought you were all dead!"

"Can the sweet talk, Argit. We all know you ran off the moment danger passed. You scumbag," said Ben.

"Hey, hey! I was going on ahead to tell Max and the others about the good news."

"Yeah. Depends on what you mean 'good news' is," a voice said as he mopped away the last of his tears.

"Now, now. Don't cry. I told you they would come out fine," a woman's voice comforted.

"Hmm. They are alive after all? Pakmar's business will be ruined!"

"The third-person again, Pakmar?" Ben asked.

"Yes. Pakmar lost his little book in the flood you created!"

Gwen illuminated the small room, revealing Max, Molly, and Pakmar.

"Grandpa Max!" his two grandchildren cried as they ran towards him and hugged him.

"Hey kids. Glad to see you guys made it out alive."

"Well done. I knew you could do it. You're a natural leader," Molly told Ben.

Max turned to Kevin. "Don't feel left out. Come join in the conversation," Max told him.

"I have something you might want to know regarding a dark secret Ben and Gwen have been hiding."

"Family issues? I won't intrude on your privacy," Molly said respectfully. "Come, Pakmar." She gestured at the little turquoise alien to follow her outside. Pakmar refused.

"Pakmar loves a good rumor! Pakmar wants to hear!" he pouted.

"It's private matters, Pakmar. Let's go."

"No! I want to hear bad stuff about Tennyson!"

"You're coming with me and that's final!" Molly declared as she forcibly dragged Pakmar out of the room.

"Should I go too, Magister? I do not wish to interrupt your private moment with my presence," Rook said.

"Well, you are Ben's partner so you do have a right to know what he's up to. You can stay."

"Oh, wait. If it's about that thing, I already know," Rook said as he left the room.

"Now, Kevin, what did you want me to know about my two grandchildren that I don't already know?"

"Well, Ben and Gwen are involved in a-" Kevin began, but never finished for Professor Paradox suddenly materialized out of a portal.

"Ben, Gwen, Kevin. I've got another mission for you three. Kind of an emergency."

"Where're we going this time? The time of the Romans?" Ben asked sarcastically.

"You guys are going to go into a movie that you, Ben, particularly like, I am told."

"And what will we do there?" Gwen asked with dread after she heard they were going into a movie that Ben liked.

"And why can't I pick the movie? Ben gets to do everything!" Kevin complained.

"You said that he was a natural leader yourself, so what he says goes. Anyways, you must retrieve a certain time-traveling device from the neck of a certain character at the correct time. Remember, the time is critical. I've arranged for Ben and Gwen to be bodyguards. Kevin, be whoever you want to be."

"And if I refuse to go?" Kevin said.

"Kevin! We're supposed to be helping Ben!"

"Oh, you'll go all right. I'm sure of it."

"Dang it. You and your accurate predictions!"

"Haha. Have fun now! Remember, you can change the entire plot of the movie if you so choose to do so!"

"Don't worry, we won't mess it up too badly!" Ben said.

"Too much fun is dangerous!" Paradox added as Ben looked at Kevin and winked. The three walked into the portal and ended up in…

Some frozen Scandinavian river… Modern day

A saw plunged through the ice and started to cut it into pieces. More saws did the same thing. A child and his pet reindeer were in charge of loading the ice onto the sleds to bring back to the castle where the ice would be shipped to other kingdoms. This kingdom didn't seem to have any problem with children working. As they worked, the men began to sing…

Born of cold and winter air  
and mountain rain combining.  
This icy force both foul and fair  
has a frozen heart worth mining.

So cut through the heart, cold and clear.  
Strike for love and strike for fear.  
See the beauty, sharp and sheer  
Split the ice apart  
And break the frozen heart

Hup! Ho!  
Watch your step!  
Let it go!

Hup! Ho!  
Watch your step!  
Let it go!

Man 1:  
Beautiful!

Man 2:  
Powerful!

Man 3:  
Dangerous!

Man 1:  
Cold!

Ice has a magic,  
can't be controlled.  
Stronger than one, stronger than ten,  
stronger than a hundred men! Ho!

Born of cold and winter air  
and mountain rain combining.  
This icy force both foul and fair  
has a frozen heart worth mining.

Cut through the heart, cold and clear.  
Strike for love and strike for fear.  
There's beauty and there's danger here  
Split the ice apart  
Beware the frozen heart...

It was here that Ben, Gwen, and Kevin landed. Gwen spotted a snow bank and quickly pulled her cousin and Kevin behind it.

"Really, Ben? You couldn't think of any other movie?"Gwen said exasperated.

"I promise! This is the last time. Besides, I'll get rid of my addiction this way."

"You better or someone's going to get hurt, and it's not going to be me," Kevin said threateningly. He cracked his knuckles, loudly.

"You hear that?" the leader of the workgroup asked.

"It came from over there!" one of the men said, pointing to the snow bank behind which the trio were staying.

"It was probably some small animal. It's been a long day. Let's get back to the castle for a nice, hot meal. Agreed?"

"Hear! Hear!" the men replied. The workers all loaded their ice onto their sleighs and headed towards the castle. In his haste, the father forgot to check if his son was following him.

"Hey! Wait for me!" the small boy yelled, hoping to get his father's attention. The dad was too busy directing the group to notice. The boy tried to climb on his reindeer and follow, but they were too fast. In a matter of moments, the poor boy was all alone.

"Sven, what are we going to do?" the boy, who was called Kristoff, asked. The reindeer shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to find some shelter. You coming?" Sven got on his belly and Kristoff got on.

"Hold on. So that boy in the beginning is Kristoff?" asked Ben.

"Seriously, you've watched _Frozen_ five times and you never picked that up?" said Gwen in disbelief.

"Anyways, let's help him."

"He probably won't want our help. Remember, he's going to be homeless. His parents will think he's dead."

"Well, since we're going to mess up the movie," Ben began.

"Correction: You're going to mess up the movie," Kevin said.

"Fine! Since I'm going to mess up the movie, we might as well introduce ourselves."

"Good point," said Gwen. Just then, Kristoff on Sven sped past where the trio were hiding. Ben leapt up from behind the snow back and yelled, "Hey little boy, come over here where you can get warm."

"Shut-up, Ben. You sound like a pedophile!" Kevin hissed.

Little Kristoff stopped and saw Ben waving at him.

"Hey mister. Did you say something?"

"Listen kid, you're all alone?"

"Yeah. My father abandoned me."

"Come over here and my friends and I'll make you comfortable." The boy looked uncertain.

"My parents said not to talk to strangers."

"Well, your parents think your dead!" The boy looked at Ben in horror.

"What do you mean they think I'm dead?"

"Look, they left you here for a reason. They don't want you!" Ben said harshly. The boy started to cry._ That's enough! I'm sick of this!_ Gwen stood up, walked over to Ben and slapped him on the face, leaving a deep, red mark.

"Ouch! Gwen, what the fuck!" Ben swore.

"Watch your language, Ben! You're scaring the poor kid."

"I'm giving him the truth!"

"He can't handle the truth! At least not yet," Gwen said quietly. She went over the Kristoff and began to talk to him. The boy's crying ceased.

"Hi there! What's your name?" she asked.

"Kristoff. Who are you?" Kristoff sniffled.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gwen Tennyson, that mean fellow over there is my cousin, Ben, and that guy over there is Kevin E. Levin."

"Who?"

"Kevin, you can show yourself now." Kevin emerged.

"Hey man. 'supp?"

"Is it true? Is what that Ben guy over there said about my parents true? They gave up on me?"

"No, Ben's lying. They love you. They're looking for you as we speak," Gwen lied.

"Oh, ok. So what do I do in the meantime?"

"Tell you what, we were all set to roast marshmallows on an open fire. Why don't you join us?"

"Sure!" the boy replied happily. Gwen stood up and walked over to Ben and Kevin.

"Right, we're going to roast some marshmallows because we can't disappoint the boy."

"And where in the bloody world are we going to get some bloody-fucking marshmallows?" asked Ben.

"Ben, are you right in the head? You're swearing and talking in a British accent," Gwen asked, concerned.

"All right, I'll stop."

"Kevin, you get some firewood, Ben, you go get marshmallows and I'll stay here and watch Kristoff. Ben headed off into the forest along with Kevin. Kevin soon returned with the firewood and Gwen conjured up a fire with her magic. Meanwhile, Ben was still in the forest cursing his bad luck.

"Damn it, Gwen! Where am I supposed to get marshmallows?"

"Did someone call for marshmallows?" a four-armed, brown haired humanoid alien in a brown suit asked as he stepped out of the dimension-hopping Mr. Smoothy.

"Professor Hokestar? How'd you get in here?"

"I honestly have no clue, my dear boy. This movie isn't part of your timeline is it?"

"I think it is. I've watched it five times already, and now I'm in it!"

"Well, that explains a lot. That's how this Mr. Smoothy ended up here."

"Say, you said you had marshmallows?"

"I do indeed. Here, I'll get some for you." Hokestar walked back into Mr. Smoothy's and came out with a bag of Hokestar's Original.

"Thanks, I think," said Ben as he took the bag.

"I only give you the very best! Open the bag and try one!"

"Why does this bag have 'free' printed all over it?"

"It's a special bag made especially for you!"

"Hmm. I don't buy it." Ben opened the bag and tried one. He immediately spit it out.

"That was disgusting! It tasted like cardboard!"

"Really? Let me have a look at that." Ben gave him the bag. Hokestar sampled one. He chewed it a good number of times and swallowed.

"Yup, you are partially correct. This is not just ordinary cardboard. It is high-quality cardboard! I told you we delivered high-quality ingredients, didn't I?"

"I'm never eating at your place again! This isn't food!"

"Hold on. I never said this Mr. Smoothy's was responsible for your terrible eating experience!"

"You told me you delivered high-quality cardboard!"

"Yes, we serve it, but we aren't responsible for what actually goes in the food."

"So who is?"

"The manufactures. Last time I checked, this shipment was made in a factory in China. Must have slipped past quality-control."

"Note to self: Never buy anything 'made in China' ever again"

"Good luck with that. You can hardly buy anything made in the U.S anymore."

"Europe is fine too."

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted, Ben."

"That's ok. I'll find some marshmallows…eventually."

"Haha. Good luck with that."

"Thanks for the help!"

"Anytime. Looks like I got a stop in Dimension 22. Gotta go now!" With one last wave and a loud pop, Professor Hokestar and the 23rd Mr. Smoothy disappeared from the frozen forest.

Ben looked sadly at the place where Mr. Smoothy's had been.

"And the adventure continues!" he said to himself.

Ben walked for another five minutes and came to a large, open, mossy area. There he got a rather wicked idea.

"Ha! Gwen, you want marshmallows don't you? How about I give you some moss?" He transformed into Stinkfly and was about to scrap off some of the moss from a "rock" when the rock spoke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, dear."

Ben was so startled that he transformed back into a human and sat on the ground.

"Are you one of those magical rock trolls?"

The rock uncurled and revealed himself as Pabbie, the troll king.

"Yes, yes. We are what you call the rock trolls. Now, what brings you to our neck of the wood, dear?"

"I'm not anyone's 'dear', ok!"

"Geez. I was just trying to be nice."

"Go away, you big meanie!" a troll child yelled.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I need some marshmallows."

"Here you go," Pabbie said as he handed Ben a big bag of Jet Puffed.

"Thanks!"

"Anytime you need something, just come here!" said Pabbie.

"I'll be sure to remember that when I give you an orphan boy we found."

"Whoa! Nobody said anything about adopting a human."

"Yeah, well, you're stuck with him." Ben ran back to the fire with the marshmallows before the troll king could reply.

"What took you so long?" Kevin asked.

"You know, it was very hard to find a candy store around here."

"The good thing is that you came back with the marshmallows," Gwen told him. "Give them here." Ben handed her the bag of Jet Puffed. She broke open the bag and skewered a few on a stick and roasted it before handing the stick to Kristoff.

"Eat. You must be famished," she said.

"Thanks, Gwen," the boy replied as he took a big bite and burned himself.

"Ahhh! My tongue!" Kristoff screamed as he started wagging his tongue at them.

"Here, let me help you cool off!" Ben said with a smile as he noticed the boy making comical faces as he writhed in pain. He transformed into Nanomech.

"Pass the Gold Bond, won't you?" Ben asked of Kevin.

"Huh? You brought Gold Bond?"

"For emergencies. It's in my purse, Ben," Gwen said.

"As you can see, I'm no condition to be lifting anything heavier than ten grams."

"Oh sorry." Gwen got the Gold Bond and smeared some on Nanomech's legs. Nanomech then flew into Kristoff's mouth and danced all over his tongue.

"Ahhh, that feels much better," the boy said.

"Excuse me, I'm still inside your mouth and I need to get out!" Nanomech screamed as his path out was being blocked by Kristoff's buck teeth. No one heard him.

_Time for some drastic measures._ "Echo-Echo!" Ben cried as he transformed into a human megaphone.

"Hey! Mind if you open up a bit so that I can get out?" he yelled. Kristoff opened his mouth and Echo-Echo hopped out.

"Never doing that again," Ben said as he transformed back to wring some human saliva off his hands.

"What are we going to do with this little monstrosity? We can't keep him forever!" Kevin said.

"All I ever wanted was a family…" Kristoff lamented.

"We'll find you a real one soon, I promise," Gwen said.

"Actually, I've already found the perfect family for young Kristoff here," Ben said.

"If this involves the magical rock trolls," Gwen began.

"Yes it does," Ben said.

"What a brilliant strategy. We can send him off to live with the trolls and forget about him!" Kevin said.

"At least for another decade or so. Everyone ages thirteen years in a span of about ten minutes in the movie, remember?" said Ben.

"What movie? I want to see a movie!" Kristoff cried.

"Yeah, the movie we're talking about involves a homeless boy, his reindeer, two princesses, one of whom has ice powers, an evil prince, a talking snowman, and trolls," Gwen said.

"Sounds fascinating."

"You might see it someday. Anyways, why don't you run along now so we three can talk in private about what we're, uh, going to make you for dinner?"

"Sounds good to me, as long as it's not whale meat and clam chowder! I've been having that stuff like forever!"

"Don't worry; it's not going to be anything like that." Kristoff ran off to play with Sven.

"So, it's agreed that we'll leave Kristoff with the trolls like in the movie?" Kevin asked.

"Somebody will have to watch him, besides those trolls I mean," Ben said.

"Hell no! I'm not watching no brat for thirteen years! Those teen years are the worst!" Kevin cried.

"And now we see why Kristoff will grow up to have absolutely no social skills."

"You know what? I'll go after all. That poor kid's got no family, just like me."

"Thata boy, Kevin!" Ben exclaimed, slapping Kevin on the back. The trio gathered Kristoff and his reindeer and walked into the forest.

"Where're we heading?" Kristoff asked.

"We're following the path to great food," Ben lied.

"You're terrible at lying, man. I want the truth!" Kristoff demanded.

"You want the truth, Kristoff?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, please, Gwen."

"Ok, we're going to take you to your new family."

"Are they nice like you are?"

"I have no idea, but they should be."

'And who are 'they' exactly?"

"Don't ask stupid questions!" Ben snapped. After walking for another five minutes, they came to the magical troll place.

"Hey! Pabbie! I brought you the kid!" Ben cried.

"Who are you?" the troll king asked.

"I'm the guy who got marshmallows from you like an hour ago, remember?"

"I see. I told you I'm not accepting this human!"

"Oh come on! He has no parents!" Kevin cried.

"That's very sad and all, but we have too many mouths to feed already."

"I'll join him!" Kevin said in desperation.

"In that case, if you'll forage food for him and care for him like a mother would her child, yes, I can take him."

"The kid has a name. Name's Kristoff."

"Welcome to our family Kristoff! It's good to see you smiling at me!" On the contrary, Kristoff seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Will you guys ever visit me?"

"In about thirteen years, yes," Gwen said.

"Why does it have to be that long?"

"Um, I'll still be here with you Kristoff," Kevin pointed out.

"I don't like you or Ben! Gwen's the only one who's been nice to me!"

"Sometimes life isn't fair, Kristoff. You'll have to learn to deal with it," Gwen said quietly.

"I guess I can try, but only because you said it."

"Goodbye, Kristoff. See you in around thirteen years," said Ben.

"Go away, ugly!" Kristoff replied.

"Hey! I was just trying to be nice!" Ben exclaimed.

"You were kind of a jerk, Ben. Maybe you should, I don't know, apologize?" Gwen said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, Kristoff, and that I lied to you. Can you ever forgive me?" Ben asked.

"No! You're still the biggest jerk I know."

"Hey, at least you tried," Gwen told Ben as the latter scowled. Gwen and Ben walked out of the forest, leaving Kevin and Kristoff with the trolls.

"Oh boy! Kevin will be thirty something when I next meet him! You'll be a beautiful, fertile woman, I'll still be a bachelor, and Kevin won't be in the way…" Ben yelled once they walked out of earshot.

"Maybe in your twisted dreams, but thankfully not in reality."

"And why would that be?"

"Haven't you heard of parallel universes?"

"No," Ben admitted.

"Well, we are visitors from another time period, right?"

"Yeah. I haven't a clue when _Frozen_ is set, though."

"That's not the point. The point is that this universe and ours coexist, but are, at the same time, separate from one another."

"So?"

"Obviously, this means that time is also independent, meaning what happens thirteen years from now in the movie will have no effect on us because we're not exactly from the time period."

"Meaning we'll still be teenagers even though Kristoff's twenty-two?"

"Exactly."

"So does that mean I can try to die anytime I want to because technically I don't exist in this world?"

"No. If you die here, you'll stay dead in our world."

"Dang it! I always wanted to succumb to hypothermia and wake up with all feeling restored!"

"Yeah, well, you better hope that never happens!"

"Where are we going anyways?"

"Arendelle. Remember, we have to get that magical item from someone and I have a hunch that someone is Elsa."

"Why are we walking there? Use one of your teleportation spells, Gwen."

"I have no idea where Arendelle is, that's the problem."

"Omnitrix, locate someone by the name of Elsa," Ben said.

"Unable to use that feature in a parallel universe."

"We could always just Google it."

"Yeah, and we'll probably have to kayak across an ocean to get there," Ben said cynically.

"Doesn't hurt to try." Gwen whipped out her cell-phone and asked Google to locate the kingdom of Arendelle. She showed it to Ben, who laughed.

"Oh Google. You never cease to amaze me. 'Hike over the North Mountain'? How am I supposed to do that?" he asked.

"Now that we have a location, we can use the transport spell."

"Sure beats a month climbing mountains."

"Just give me your hand already so we can get to the castle!" Ben gave Gwen his hand. _Portallus Projectum! _A silver tornado appeared out of nowhere.

"What the heck? Gwen, have you lost your mind?!"

"No, step into the tornado."

"Ok, now you've really lost it. Why would I do that? I'll get ripped to shreds!"

"Just do what I tell you, damnit!" Gwen yelled, frustrated.

"That's the first time you've ever cursed," Ben noted.

"What? Opps, sorry. I got a bit carried away back there.

"Inside every good girl is a wicked one, just waiting to break free," Ben said.

"Would you quit yapping and get in the tornado already?"

"Ok, ok!" Ben got into the tornado and Gwen transported them to Arendelle, ten leagues to the East.

Kingdom of Arendelle (Around the same time the previous events occurred)

The snow fell fast and thick. Sunlight streamed through the window of the gigantic bedroom in the magnificent palace six- year old Anna shared with her nine-year old sister, Elsa, and their parents, the king and queen of Arendelle. Anna opened her eyes and ran to towards the window.

"It's snowing!" she cried. Then she decided to wake up her older sister so they could go outside and play.

"Wake up! Wake up! It's snowing outside!" Anna yelled as she pulled the covers off Elsa and started jumping on her.

"Whaa?" Elsa glanced over and looked at the grandfather clock on the other side of the room.

"Anna, it's 3 in the morning! Go back to sleep!" She tried to pull back the covers, but Anna wouldn't let her. She continued to jump on the poor girl.

"Come on! Come on! Let's go outside and play!"

"Keep jumping on me and I'll vomit first!"

"I don't care as long as you play with me," Anna pouted.

"And why would I want to do that? You have your dolls."

"But the sun is out, so I'm awake."

"Fine. What do you want to do?"

"Do you want to build a snowman?" Anna asked mischievously.

"Ok. We'll just have to be really quiet. We mustn't let mom or dad hear. Pinky promise?"

"Yeah!" The two girls latched pinkies. Elsa then quietly opened the bedroom door and stuck her head out. There was no one in site.

"Ok, the coast is clear. You can follow me, but don't make a lot of noise." The two girls tippy-toed down the long, spiraling staircase to the main gate. The gate was guarded by a lone night watchman.

"Princess Elsa, Princess Anna, what are you two doing up at this early hour?" the guard asked.

"Um, we were about to go outside to," Elsa began.

"Build a snowman!" Anna finished.

"Ah, I see. What fun!"

"Yes, it is. Can you please unlock the gates now so we can go outside?" Elsa asked.

"No I can't. The queen says the gates must be locked from curfew at midnight to seven in the morning."

"Well, I am Princess Elsa, and I demand-"

"Whoa there. You will be obeying me until you are eighteen, understood?"

"Yes sir," Elsa replied.

"Now, I know you guys want to play outside in the snow, but we can't have you running around outside the castle. How about I open up the garden for you?"

"Well, I guess that'll work."

"See what happens when you ask politely? Now follow me!" Anna and Elsa followed the night watchman down the long hallway which led to the garden. He opened the door.

"Have fun!" he exclaimed as he waved goodbye and returned to his guard duty at the gate.

"Do the magic, do the magic!" Anna cried as soon as the man left.

"Ok. Here goes!" Elsa rubbed her hands together. A miniature snowman appeared, complete with eyes, a mouth, and a nose.

"Who are you?" Anna asked the snowman.

Elsa hid behind the snowman and mimicked his voice.

"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"

"I love you, Olaf!" Anna cried as she hugged the snowman only to have it disintegrate in her hands. Anna stood there for a moment. Tears started to form on her face.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. Let's do something else," Elsa said, noticing her sister's unhappiness. Elsa created a mountain out of snow. She then grabbed her sister and they both slid down the mountain together.

"That was fun!" Anna exclaimed, her sadness instantly forgotten._ Little sisters, how soon do they forget?_

"Do you want to do that again?"

"More, more!"

Elsa created more mountains for Anna to slide down. Every time the little girl slid down one, she demanded her sister create one more. Pretty soon, Elsa could no longer keep up with her sister's requests.

"Anna, slow down!" Elsa warned as Anna flew into the air after getting launched from a height of ten meters. Elsa barely caught her safely with another slide that was even higher, around twenty-five meters. Anna flew into the air again, but this time, Elsa was unable to create a mountain fast enough.

"Anna! No!" Elsa cried as she fired off an icy blast, intending to create another slide. Instead the blast hit Anna in the face. Anna screamed in pain. Elsa felt as if she had been struck too. She did however manage to summon up her powers one last time to generate a snow bank and protect her sister from the fall. Elsa ran over to Anna the moment the girl landed.

"Anna, are you ok? I'm so sorry."

"So cold…" the girl replied and promptly passed out.

"Mama! Papa! Come here, quick! Something's wrong with Anna!" The queen and king of Arendelle ran out to the garden and immediately pieced together what had happened.

"Elsa, this has got to stop!" the king said.

"Worry about Anna first. I hit her in the face with my power!"

"My poor baby!" the queen wailed. That solved absolutely nothing.

"We must get her help and fast!" the king declared. He scooped up little Anna under his arm, beckoned for his wife and Elsa to follow, and ran back into the castle. The captain of the guard saw and hurried over. The guy spoke only German.

"Oh mein Gott! Was ist hier passiert?"

"Anna wurde in den Kopf von Elsas Zaubertreffer," the king replied fluently.

"Wir müssen uns dann beeilen. Ich werde dein Pferd erhalten," the captain said.

"Danke."

A moment later, he appeared with the king's horse all saddled up and ready to go.

"Hier gehen Sie , mein Herr." The king got on the horse and pulled his wife and kid up beside him.

"Sie sind verantwortlich, bis ich zurückkomme," the king told the captain.

"Ja, Sir ! Ich wünsche Ihnen viel Glück."

The king rode the horse to the main gate. The guard tried to stop him.

"Hey! No riding in the castle!"

"I'm the king and I have an emergency to attend to."

"Sorry sir. I didn't recognize you."

"Open the gate!"

"One open gate coming up!" the guard replied as he opened up the gate. The king rode out and into the marketplace to find the local healer. He stopped at the apothecary to ask for help.

"Greetings my king. What brings you to my establishment today?" the owner asked.

"Help me. It's my daughter," the king said.

"You're daughter? You mean the one cowering behind you?" Dr. Josef Abaelard asked.

"What? No! Elsa," here the queen dragged Elsa into view, "hit Anna," here the queen pointed to Anna, who was still unconscious, "with her ice powers."

"And you are hoping that I have some cure that will fix everything?"

"Exactly. Can you do it?" the king asked.

"That depends. Where was Anna hit?"

"The forehead," the queen said.

"Oh no, no, no. A wound of that nature is surely mortal. In fact, it's a miracle she even survived this long. Go home and bury her!"

"Are you sure there is absolutely nothing we can do to save her?" the queen pleaded.

"Nope. Anna's gonna die!"

"Mom, I don't see his license. Is he a _real _doctor?" Elsa asked.

"Ok, son. Let me see your credentials!"

"Credentials? Yes sir, absolutely. It'll just be a minute."

"Sir, thank goodness we found you! You left without your escort!" Lord High Commander Turry panted as he caught up along with a dozen of his soldiers.

"Sorry. I was in a hurry."

"These streets are quite dangerous you know."

"Hey! If you aren't going to produce those credentials, I'm leaving to find some actual help!"

"Ok, ok. I lied! I have no credentials to be a doctor! I am, however, an excellent blacksmith."

"No you aren't," Turry interjected.

"What do you mean? Of course I am!"

"You, Josef Abaelard, are nothing but a fraud!"

"You have no evidence."

"Calm yourself, Turry. The man's right. He's innocent until proven guilty," the king said.

"Well, it just so happens that I have proof. We've been spying on this guy for the past month. Notice how he doesn't have any of his so called medicine for purchase?"

"That's because they're so popular! All sold out!"

"Really? Your clinic has seen only a dozen people since its founding."

"Well, I'll be going now. Good-bye!" The fake doctor slammed the door shut and made a dash for it out the back-door.

"We'll handle this, your majesty. You concentrate on getting your daughter treatment," Turry said. Six men ran after the captain and the fleeing doctor while the other half stayed with the king.

"Where to?" one soldier asked him.

"No idea. Just keep walking," the queen replied.

After walking around the marketplace for ten minutes, the king began to grow desperate.

"No one can heal my daughter?" he wondered aloud.

Right then Ben and Gwen appeared.

"Did someone call for a doctor?" Ben asked.

"We know where you can find help. Just follow us," Gwen added.

"I'm sorry, but who are you people?"

"We are nomads looking for permanent employment at the castle, your majesty," Ben said.

"And what jobs do you guys want?"

"Let's see, being personal bodyguards to Elsa and Anna would be nice."

"I got my eye on you young man. You better not be dome creeper."

"Ah, you mean a pedophile?"

"Exactly. Don't be that."

"Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on my cousin," Gwen said.

"So you two are related, I see."

"Dear, are we supposed to saving our daughter from certain death?" the queen reminded her husband.

"What? Yes, of course!" he snapped. "Give us the right directions and I'll make you two bodyguards, agreed?" the king asked.

"Agreed!" Ben and Gwen replied.

"Sir, do you need any further assistance from us?" the soldiers asked.

"No, no. Go back to the castle." The soldiers left.

"Now then. This might shock you, but I have a faster way of transport than your horse," Ben told the king. The horse looked disgruntled.

"How does it work?"

"Well, I can transform…ouch!" The horse suddenly kicked Ben with its two front feet. Ben flew ten feet into a snow-bank.

"Sorry about that! Krisabell heard you talk badly about her." "Don't do that anymore!" the king told the horse. Krisabell merely snorted as if to say, "I'd do it again if he so insults me again."

"I'm sure we'll be great friends, won't we Krisabell?" Ben asked as he dusted himself off. The horse glared at him.

"Anyways, as my cousin was saying, he can transform into multiple aliens," Gwen finished.

"Hmm. That's very useful."

"Here. Grab onto me and I'll take you to the magical trolls. They can heal Anna," Ben said. He hit the Omnitrix and transformed into Four Arms.

"Whoa! That's one scary lookin' fellow," the king said as he backed away from the Tetramand.

"Stupid Omnitrix. Now you refuse to work?"

Gwen noticed the confused royal family. "Yeah, that happens with his Omnitrix sometimes. Here, I'll do a teleportation spell to get to the trolls."

"You have magical powers too?" the queen asked.

"Yeah. I found out when I was ten. Now everyone join hands with me." The king carrying Anna, the queen, Elsa, and Ben all gathered around Gwen, who teleported them to the enchanted troll forest.

"Hey Pabbie! I'm sorry to interrupt you again, but this is urgent!" Ben yelled.

"Come on kid! Three house-calls in one day? That's too much!" Pabbie relied.

"I brought a very important visitor that you'll want to see."

"Who is it?"

"It is I," the king said.

"Ah, it's the king. Come out everyone, it's the king!" Pabbie called out.

"The king, the king! The king has come!" excited whispers were soon reveled to belong to the hundreds of rock trolls that lived in the same area. They rolled up and surrounded the little party.

"Now, your majesty, what seems to be the problem?"

"This," the king handed Anna over. Pabbie almost dropped her.

"Careful with royalty!" Gwen scolded as she caught Anna.

"All right, who did this to her?" Pabbie asked.

"Elsa, say hello dear," her father said, pushing her to the troll king.

"Hello. You look funny," Elsa told him.

"Elsa! Is that how a nine-year old acts?!" her mother scolded her.

"Oh, it's all in good fun!" Pabbie said cheerfully. "So you did this to your sister?"

"Yes."

Pabbie turned to the parents. "Born with the powers or cursed?" he asked.

"Um, born."

"Then her powers will only grow as she gets older."

"Ok. What about Anna?"

"Where was she hit?"

"The head."

"Oh, goody!" Pabbie noticed the two parents glowering at him. "I-I mean, she's lucky it was the head," he said hastily.

"And why is that?" the queen asked.

"The head can be persuaded. The heart, on the other hand, is nearly always fatal."

"Do what you must."

"I suggest we remove all traces of magic from little Anna's mind. That includes her memories of the incident and everything leading up to it."

"So she won't remember I have powers?" Elsa asked her mother.

"It's for the best," the queen replied. Pabbie waved his stubbly arms over Anna's head. A blue cloud floated upwards.

"There, all better."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" the queen cried.

"One more thing, would you like me to take away all the fun?" Pabbie asked.

"You have the power to do that?" the king asked.

"Well, yes, but it's not advisable. Anna will forget everything about her sister, including her sister's name."

"Great Scott! No, we don't want that," the king exclaimed.

"As I thought. Therefore, I leave the fun." There was a moment of awkward silence, then-

"Elsa, a word with you if you so please," Pabbie said.

"Go on, Elsa. We'll be here waiting," her parents said.

Elsa walked with Pabbie a short distance.

"What is it?" she asked.

"As I told you, your power will only grow. With it comes great power, but also-"

"Great responsibility?" Elsa asked.

"Not quite. I was going to say, great danger."

"How do I avoid it then?"

"You must learn to control your power."

"I'll-I'll try."

"That's a good girl. They walked back to the queen and king.

"Elsa must control her power."

"Yes, I think that was implied when you said her power would only grow."

"How will you teach her?"

"We'll lock the gates, reduce the staff, and limit her contact with the outside world. Conceal her power from everyone, especially her sister."

"That's not going to work. Her isolation will only make her more volatile."

"Oh, you'll see. I'll make sure of it."

"Haha. Good luck with that." With another wave, the royal party teleported back to the castle.

"Well, congratulations, you two. You are officially part of the Arendelle royal guards."

"That's so cool!" Gwen exclaimed.

"You, uh, what's your name?" the king asked Ben.

"I am Benjamin Tennyson and this is my cousin, Gwendolyn."

"You, Sir Benjamin are assigned to Anna. Lady Gwendolyn, you are assigned to Elsa."

"Just call us by our nicknames, Ben and Gwen, respectively," said Ben.

"You are to protect those two with your lives, understood?"

"Yes sir!"the two said.

"Also, you are to keep the girls separate until further notice. This is paramount."

"Understood."

"And finally, you are to provide counsel when needed, but lie when necessary."

"You got it."

"Awesome. Now I can finally fire that God-awful German captain!"

"Shall I send for him?" Ben asked.

"Seeing how you're going to replace him, yes." Ben walked over to the captain.

"Hey, the king wants to see you!"

"Was?"

"I said, the king wants to see you."

"Leider habe ich nicht Englisch sprechen," the captain said.

_Oh boy, this is hopeless._ Ben took to dragging the captain to the king whilst listening to the fellow exclaim, "loslassen mich!"

"Dies ist ein trauriger Tag für Sie," the king told the captain.

"

Did you mean: This is a sad _**day**_

Warum?"

"Ich bin Brennen Sie."

"Was?"

"Nichts Persönliches.

Did you mean: I just found two _**cans**_

Ich habe gerade zwei Kandidaten besser geeignet für den Job."

"Ok, ok. Ich werde ruhig gehen." The man left.

"Now, let's separate the girls before Anna awakens," the king said. The king called Elsa into the room.

"Elsa, this is Gwen. She'll be your bodyguard."

"Hi Elsa! I'll be your new best friend."

"Don't try and sugar-coat things for me, dad. I'm nine and I know what's going on here. You're going to keep me away from Anna, right?"

"It's the only way, Elsa."

"Come Elsa, I'll show you to your new room," Gwen said happily. She took the little girl's hand in her own and left the room.

Elsa's Room

"Wow! This whole room is for me?" asked Elsa.

"Yup. It's got everything you need to stay entertained twenty-four hours a day."

"So I have to stay here forever?"

"At least until you're eighteen."

"How will I continue my education? What about food? What about my sister?"

"I'll be your personal tutor. As for food, I'll bring whatever you want to eat. You can't see your sister, but I'm sure we can set up a system with Ben so you can still keep in touch with her."

"Who's Ben?"

"He's my cousin."

"Ok, I guess it won't be that bad."

"That's right. Keep a positive attitude."

"Gwen, come down here if you so please," the king called.

"What is it?" she shouted from upstairs.

"Just come down!" Gwen came down the stairs and to the king.

"Here, give these to Elsa." He handed her a pair of gloves and a locket.

"What are these for?"

"The gloves are for controlling her powers. The locket contains memories of the incident."

"Ah, I see."

"She must wear the gloves at all times."

"Got it."

"She can give the locket to Anna at the proper age, but Anna won't be able to open it until the time is right."

"Ok." Gwen went back up the stairs and gave the items to Elsa.

"Promise me you'll wear the gloves at all times."

"I promise, Gwen."

"That's a good girl."

"I miss Anna."

"I'm sure you do. Now go to sleep." Elsa closed her eyes. Gwen made to shut the door and tip-toe away.

At around the same time

Anna stirred and opened her eyes for the first time that day.

"Where's Elsa?" she asked.

"Um, Elsa, she had to go away for a while," Ben invented.

"When is she coming back?"

"I don't know exactly, but soon."

"Ok! And who are you?"

"I'm Ben and I'll be your caretaker. My cousin Gwen is Elsa's caretaker. Now, listen very carefully. You can roam the entire castle except for one room."

"Why?"

"Well, that's Elsa's room."

"But why?"

"Elsa doesn't want you in there."

"Why?"

"Because she's growing up and she doesn't want younglings like you to bother her."

"Oh. Who's going to play with me, then?"

"I will."

"Fine."

"Now, let's go up the stairs and to your bedroom. You'll have it all to yourself since Elsa's in another room."

On the way up the stairs, they passed Elsa's room, which was still open. Gwen was about to close and lock it.

"Gwen, wait! Shouldn't we allow them to say good-bye?" Ben asked.

"The king said no outside contact for Elsa."

"Oh, I'm sure we can bend the rules a little this time."

"All right. Elsa, come and say good-bye to your sister." Elsa came to the door.

"Good-bye Anna."

"Good-bye Elsa. See you soon!"

Gwen shut and locked the door. Ben tucked Anna into her bed. This would be the last contact the girls would have in nine years.

"Ben, I know what we're looking for."

"What is it?"

"A locket that Elsa has. She's supposed to give it to Anna when Anna turns eighteen, but it's only going to open for Anna at the right time."

"Ok. I wonder what we're going to do for these nine years."

"We aren't going to age, that's for sure."

"We'll still remain in contact?"

"Always." Ben grabbed Gwen around the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Ben, what's wrong with you?"

"Shhhh. Just shut-up and enjoy it."

"Enjoy what?"

"This." Ben leaned forwards and kissed Gwen on the lips.

"Ben! We've got to stop this right-mhhm," Gwen moaned.

"Hehe. I know you like that."

"What we're doing is wrong on so many levels."

"Screw it! I'm done trying to hide my feelings for you."

"You told me that before."

"Yeah? Well, now let me you the extent of my love."

"You did not just say that!" Gwen said, horrified. "You want to have sex with me?"

"Um, yeah. Didn't you get the hint when I told you I wanted to express my love to you in a physical way?"

"No! I'm not having sex with you of all people! It's disgusting!"

"You don't have much of a choice," Ben said.

"Now it's not only incest, but the threat of rape as well? What kind of sick freak are you?"

"Whoa! No one said anything about rape. You seemed to like me kissing you, so I decided to take things one step further. It's all consensual here."

"Forget about it, Ben. I'm not having sex with you and that's final!" Gwen turned to go to her room. Ben grabbed her shoulder.

"Come on, Gwen. You're horny; I'm horny, so let's just screw it and fuck."

"But what if I get pregnant? The kids we'll have will have genetic defects. We're too closely related."

"I checked on Wikipedia, Gwen. The coefficient of kinship, which determines the degree of relatedness for first cousins is r=4. That means we are only 12.5% related. Furthermore, in most countries, incest is defined as having relations with an individual of degree 3 or lower. We are degree four, so it is ok for us to have sex."

"Hmm. I don't trust Wikipedia," said Gwen, always the skeptic.

"Most of Wikipedia is reliable."

"Oh really? What about that 4,500 word article on the Bicholim Conflict between Portugal and the Maratha Empire of India during the 1640s?"

"Never heard of it."

"Of course you didn't! It was a fake that existed for more than half a decade of Wikipedia before it was finally removed."

"And your point is?"

"Be careful what is said on Wikipedia."

"Anyways, back to the main point. We can legally have intercourse and have comfort knowing that the odds that our baby will have defects are tiny at best."

"I'm not going to take that risk, at least without telling family."

"Yeah, we should probably tell Grandpa and our parents before, you know."

"So, we agreed to no sex before we tell our parents?"

"Well, not sex involving a penis and a vagina."

"You sly bastard! Always finding loopholes!"

"You know me well enough to know I'm a man with many talents. Yes, that leaves the option of non-penetrative sex."

"Fine, I'll give you a blowjob."

"Really?"

"Like you said, we're both horny and since actual sex is off the table…"

"Excellent! Now get down on your knees."

"Um, Ben, you do notice that we're standing in a hallway? Anyone could see us."

"Point taken. Let's go somewhere a bit more private. How about my room?"

Ben and Gwen practically fell into Ben's room. Gwen managed to close the door before raging teenage hormones got the better of them…

**Lemon Alert!**

Lemon

Ben could hardly believe his luck. He had finally scored big with his busty redhead of a cousin._ Yes! I'm finally getting something from the girl of my dreams!_

Gwen was a bit more somber._ There's no turning back now._

Both cousins looked at each other and gulped.

"Um, you go first," Gwen said.

"Nu-uh. Girls first."

"Rock-paper-scissors. Best out of three. Loser goes first," Gwen decided.

"Fine. I'll just beat you like I do every time with Brainstorm."

"No aliens! Just your luck against mine."

"All right. Round one starts now!"

Ben pulled rock. Gwen pulled scissors.

"Rock clobbers scissors, therefore I win first round."

"You won't win next time," Gwen promised.

She was right. They both pulled paper.

"Ah, but you won't win next time, Ben."

Both pulled rock. The same thing happened next round with scissors. Finally, Gwen beat Ben with scissors against paper.

"Last round. I'm gonna win!" Ben bragged.

"No, I am," Gwen cried.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

Gwen pulled paper.

"Screw the rules, I have aliens!" Ben shouted. He pulled out Chuck Norris.

"What the hell am I doing here?" the comedian asked.

"You just won me a game of rock-paper-scissors!"Ben said.

"I'm tired of these endless internet memes. I really can't do anything, so please leave me out of this!" Norris said. He turned to leave.

"Oh no you don't! Get back into my magical satchel!" Ben shouted. He grabbed Chuck and forced him into his magical satchel.

"This is a clear violation of my Fifth Amendment rights!" Chuck shouted.

"Screw you! We aren't in America anymore! You have no rights!" Ben screamed as he zipped the bag shut, forever trapping Norris again.

"Ben? Are you felling ok?"

"What? Yeah, let's continue. It looks like I just won, so you have to strip for me."

"Technically, you made an illegal move, so I win."

"Whatever. You get to see me in all my naked glory faster, I guess."

"Hold on, not so fast. We take turns."

"Ohh. Kinky, I like that shit."

Ben started by taking off his shirt. Gwen gazed at his well-chiseled abdomen. It was pure muscle.

"Nice pecs. I wager that you've been working out?"

"Yup. Now it's your turn."

Gwen undid her pink hair band. Her neat ponytail became undone and her auburn hair spilled out.

"Hey! I thought we agreed to clothing being taken off?"

"Well, you cheated, so it's only fair that I do to."

Ben looked at his cousin and simply smiled.

"All right, Gwen. There's no turning back now. You ready?"

"You bet I am," Gwen said, beaming.

Ben took off his denim jeans leaving him clad only in his Sumo- Slammers boxer briefs. Gwen could clearly see a massive bulge in said article of clothing.

"My, my. Someone's trying to escape your pants, Ben. Better try to restrain him before he gets out of control," Gwen said with a snicker.

"Oh, he's practically dying for attention right now. Why don't you give him some love right now?"

"It would be my pleasure," Gwen replied as she crawled towards her cousin, licking her lips and shaking her behind in a rather provocative and seductive manner. Ben's bulge grew to the point where it threatened to burst out of his boxers.

"Man_, _I can't believe this is happening right now."_ I'm gonna get blown by my own cousin! _He moaned at the very thought_._

"Oh it's happening all right," Gwen told him as she finally reached him. She grabbed the hem of Ben's briefs and slowly pulled it down to his ankles. Ben's ten inch erect member sprang free of its confines and smacked Gwen in the face.

"So this is what a penis looks like. I never knew you owned one this big, Ben!" she gasped.

"Impressed?"

"Well, this is my first time, so yes."

"Hurry up and suck on it."

"Hold on big boy. I'm not done inspecting it."

"Well, do it fast! I'm about to blow!" Ben growled. Gwen reached out her right hand and tentatively touched it.

"Mhhm. Nice, hard, and thick. I like it." She slowly moved the hand up to the head and then completely down his entire shaft, exposing the foreskin. It was raw, bumpy, and oozed fellow pus. Gwen, freaking out because she had touched it without looking, immediately dropped her hand. Ben groaned in disappointment, not knowing why she had stopped.

"What's wrong baby? Why'd you stop? It was just getting to the good part!"

"You're disgusting, did you know that?"

"Huh? What did I do?" Gwen showed him her pus covered hand.

"Eww! Was that from a period gone horribly wrong?!"

"No you moron! It's from your filthy dick. You obviously can't take care of yourself!" Gwen yelled. Ben glanced down at his member and screamed.

"Oh my God! STD, STD, STD!"

"No, it's not that serious. You haven't been sexually active, so there's no chance of you contracting an STD. Rather, this is from you not cleaning yourself properly." Ben looked relieved.

"Is that it? I'll just go clean myself then."

"No, no, there's no need to bother looking for a bathroom. I can make this mess magically disappear," Gwen said quickly to stop Ben from walking out the door completely naked as he was foolishly about to do.

"Let's see... Ah, yes, the cleaning spell." _Tergeo! _Gwen cried, simultaneously pointing her left hand at herself and her right at Ben. The pus on both her right hand and Ben's penis disappeared. Also gone was his erection as clean apparently also signified a limp noodle. Ben looked down at his pride and glory and cried bitter tears.

"Ahhhh! I'm incompetent! Get me some Viagra and fast!" Gwen burst out laughing at Ben's utter ridiculousness.

"You know, sometimes I wonder whether you'd be a better comedian or a super hero," Gwen chortled.

"Don't laugh at me! It's serious!" Ben cried.

_Erecto! _Gwen said, pointing her hand at Ben's dick. It instantly sprang up.

"There, good as new and just in time to pick up where we left off." Once again, her right hand clamped around his shaft and jerked it up and down, slowly speeding up. Ben started to pant in anticipation.

"Oh yeah, Gwen. That feels so good!" he moaned. Gwen smirked.

"You like? How about this?" She cupped his balls with her left hand and squeezed. Meanwhile, her right hand peeled away the foreskin of Ben's member to reveal the Glans Penis, the most sensitive part of the male anatomy.

"Oooh, look what we have here! I wonder what happens when I touch it!" Gwen said mischievously. Her hand reached up and squeezed the bulbous structure.

"Holy shit!" Ben cried as the nerves there sent messages to his brain, which released dopamine in response. Waves of pleasure washed over Ben. His cock twitched in response, releasing copious amounts of pre-cum. Gwen removed her right hand that was dripping with Ben's fluids and placed it to her mouth.

"Looks tasty," she murmured as she placed a small amount on her tongue. She swirled it around in her mouth before swallowing it.

"So? How do you like it?" Ben asked anxiously. Gwen smiled at him.

"Slightly salty, but other than that, I love it!" she announced. She eagerly ate the rest of the fluid off her fingers. Her left hand was still hard at work fondling his balls.

"Gwen, stop teasing me and get to the main course already!" Ben cried as he was getting rather frustrated from his lack of release even though he had to admit, he liked it when his testicles were being toyed with.

"Geez, cuz. Two hands aren't good enough for you?" Ben glowered at her.

"Ok, ok. Let's try this!" She scooted her head close to Ben's still erect cock.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! Suck on it you filthy whore!" Ben screamed. Gwen's face flushed red, always a bad sign._ Oh no, I shouldn't have called her that! _

"Excuse me, Ben? What did you call me?"

"You're a filthy whore!"

"You know, I could break your little toy in half just like that," she said. She snapped her fingers for emphasis. Ben was paralyzed in fear and gave no response. Enraged, she took both her hands and placed it around the middle of his penis. She then bent one half upwards, causing Ben to howl in pain.

"Gahhh! I'm sorry Gwen! I'm sorry I called you a whore! My cousin is clearly not a whore!"

'And?" Gwen asked, bending it some more.

"And I'll never do it again unless we're both feeling naughty!" Ben screamed. "Now please let go of my penis. I won't be able to reproduce without it!"

"Seems genuine enough," Gwen said, finally letting go.

"You almost broke it, you know," Ben told her.

"Relax, Ben. I know how much force it takes to break a bone."

"How much?" Ben asked, interested.

"Oh, around 4,000 Newtons, but it really depends on your age, health, and the bone broken."

"Whatever. Just get back to sucking on my dick, Gwen the whore."

"Oh shut up, you douche-bag," she said, playing along. Gwen drew her face close to the shaft and kissed it.

"What the hell? I didn't drag you here for you to just come and kiss it!" Ben complained.

"Shhh, I'm just getting warmed up, so just sit back and enjoy it," she replied. She kissed it once more before her warm tongue found the tip. As she opened her mouth, Ben could feel her warm breath and couldn't wait for her to start licking it. With one last glace upward to make sure he was watching, Gwen started teasing the tip using her tongue. Now, both her hands were busy caressing his balls, eliciting a soft moan of pleasure from the boy. Gwen slowly licked her way down the shaft, pausing every so often as to deny Ben the nirvana he sought.

Once she got to the end of the rod, Gwen stopped licking and removed her hands from his balls. Ben let out a groan of disappointment that ended when she nibbled at his ball sack with her teeth as she stimulated his prostate gland with a free hand. After around thirty seconds, she switched to sucking at his balls.

"Gwen, I'm getting close," he warned.

"Don't cum yet, I haven't given you the main course yet."

"I can't wait. You've been putting it off for too long!" he replied. Gwen positioned her mouth at the head of Ben's cock and spit on it to lube it up. She suddenly engulfed all of his ten inches in her mouth in one fell swoop, causing Ben to moan loudly.

"Gwen, stop! You're going to fast!" Gwen didn't listen until about the fifth time when she gagged from choking on the last two inches. She came up gasping for air.

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't deep-throat on my first try," she agreed.

"We don't have to continue if you don't want to," Ben said.

"No, I'm fine now." Gwen placed one hand on his dick to prevent herself from taking too much at one time, and resumed sucking. Gradually, she inched closer and closer to the bottom as she became accustomed to the feel of Ben in her mouth. Finally, she removed her hand as her nose touched pubic hair.

"Wow! You managed to put me all in you?" Ben gasped in amazement.

"Mhmm hmm," Gwen replied, her mouth full of cock. The sensation almost pushed Ben to the edge.

"Yeah, start humming!" Ben said. Gwen started to hum while deep-throating him. Ben rocked his hips forward, humping his cock deeper into her mouth while keeping a hand in the back to prevent her from pulling out. Slurping sounds were heard as Gwen continued sucking on Ben like one does a smoothie. Not just any smoothie, no it had to be one from Mr. Smoothy.

"Gwen, I'm very, very close," he cried, signaling her to increase her pace of sucking. Finally, Ben had to release.

"Gwen, I can't hold it back anymore!" he cried.

Gwen removed her mouth just long enough to say, "Guess you'll have to, LET IT GO!" She then went back to the oral ministration of her cousin.

"Ohhhhh! I'm cumming, Gwen!" Ben cried as he thrust his cock one last time deep into Gwen's mouth. Soon afterwards, his hips undulating, Ben spewed strand after strand of thick, warm, milk colored semen onto her waiting tongue. Gwen couldn't hold it all in, so a large amount of it collected on the carpet.

"Yum! It's so warm and delicious!" Gwen exclaimed as she swallowed all that she could.

"I'm glad you liked it, sweetie."

"Now it's time for you to pleasure me, Ben."

"Your wish is my command, milady." He reached under Gwen's black miniskirt and rubbed at her pussy over her white cotton panties.

"Ben, n-not y-yet! Mhhm," she moaned. Ben just smirked and rubbed a bit faster.

"Ben, stop it! I'm not ready yet!"

"Your cunt says otherwise. Look at it, it's sopping wet!" Ben removed his hand from her private area and sure enough, Gwen could clearly see some glistening liquid on it that could have only originated from her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll admit that I'm wet, but I would be even more satisfied if you could get these clothes off me," Gwen snapped. Ben finally realized at his cousin was still fully clothed.

"Oh shit! I forgot about that. Sorry," Ben said.

"Start with the top and work your way down," Gwen continued. Ben reached up and took off her red sweater. Underneath, she wore a black tight-knit vest that highlighted her well defined curves, which Ben, being a male, was instantly attracted towards.

"Wow, Gwen, I didn't realize you were so well endowed with a set of fantastic tits! Are they fake?" Gwen smacked him.

"I've seen you and Kevin drooling at them when we were on missions. I thought you of all people, after staring at them for I don't know, like three years now, would realize that my boobs jiggle when I move. Furthermore, our numerous trips to the beach should have given you ample opportunity to view my cleavage, in which case, you would know that my breasts do not exhibit the so-called 'butt- crack' , another characteristic of silicone implants. Finally, from the times you 'accidentally' brushed up against me, you would realize that my jugs are soft and squishy, not firm like the extra-firm tofu you find at the Korean mart," Gwen ranted.

"Come again? It was boring, so I kind of fell asleep. What I did hear was me staring, drooling, and brushing up against your chest for the past three years. Now, up until today, I would have dismissed these allegations as part of an adolescent boy's natural and, quite frankly, healthy instincts when confronted with a pair of heavenly watermelons, if said instincts weren't so perverted due to the awkward position of you being my beloved cousin."

"Ok, moving on now. Do you want to touch my 100% unadulterated babies?" Gwen asked, sexily.

"Would I want to touch- What the hell kind of question is that, Gwen. I'm not a homosexual! Of course I want to touch them boobies!"

"Well then, go ahead. They're all yours, if you can get them out that is."

"It's not rocket science, Gwen. I know how to remove clothing. I've only been doing it for the past fourteen years by myself," Ben replied sarcastically. He reached out to grab a tittie. Gwen moved away from him.

"Nu-uh, Ben. No fondling until you get rid of all the clothing above my waistline," she teased.

"But I wanna feel!" he pouted.

"And you shall, but get me naked first."

"Fine." He took of the vest, finally revealing Gwen's white bra.

"Nice, I can see you've got some ample cleavage showing there. I bet I could stick my whole hand in there."

"Of course you can. It's a C-cup, and don't you dare!"

"Oh, but you can't stop me," Ben laughed as he shoved his entire left hand down the front of Gwen's bra and kneaded her mounds.

"Don't stop! It feels too good!" Gwen whimpered. However, Ben did stop.

"Time to suck on your nipples, baby!" he declared.

"How? You don't know how to remove a bra."

"Oh I'll learn soon enough. How hard can it be?"

"Harder than it looks." Ben soon found out the frustration after trying ten whole minutes without success.

"All right, I give up. Can you remove it yourself?"

"There's a clasp on the back, you know. You didn't have to bite and slobber all over it as Wildmutt," Gwen told him as she removed the ruined bra with bite marks all over it.

"Hehe. Now prepare to get suckled by the wrath of your cousin's mouth!"

"Oh no! I'm so scared. His teeth are too big!" Gwen cried out in mock terror. Ben bent over and took Gwen's left nipple in his mouth as his left hand massaged her other breast.

"Ooooh! That feels so good! Keep going!" Gwen moaned. Ben smiled and lightly bit the nipple before sucking on it. He then switched to the other breast and did the same thing.

"Mhhm. Such juicy tits, I just can't stop!" he said. Ben mashed both of the boobs together and licked both nipples at the same time.

"Ahhhh! I'm lactating!" Gwen cried. Thick, creamy, while liquid seeped out of her nipples and into Ben's mouth. He greedily drank it all.

"Tasted just like milk," Ben commented.

"That's because it was milk, idiot. You pleasured me too much."

"Man, my daily dose of calcium and Vitamin D right there."

"Well, enough of that. Let's get down to more intimate territory, shall we?" Gwen asked.

"My thoughts exactly." He released the zipper on her skirt and tossed it aside. Now, she was wearing only her panties.

"Hmm, how are we going to do this effectively?"Ben wondered aloud.

"I know! Let's go into that sixty-nine position or as the French like to call it, soixante-neuf."

"Hehe. Mutual masturbation, let's go!" They both climbed onto the bed with Gwen ending up on top of her cousin. Her pussy was directly in front of his face and her face was in front of his wang. Ben peeled off her cotton panties, leaving her defenseless to what he was about to do.

"Nice, no hair down here?"

"Yup. I shaved it all off because it looks so much better that way."

"Let's get this started shall we?" Gwen started deep-throating him again while Ben chose to begin by licking at her thighs.

"Mhhmmmmmm," they both said. Ben proceeded to lick at her pussy lips with long, slow motions. Gwen stopped sucking.

"This is stupid. You get blown off twice when I haven't even gotten off once? We should make it equal first." She got off of him and spread her legs wide. Ben put his mouth between her legs and resumed licking.

"Ooooooh, right there! Keep going. Mhhm," Gwen ordered. Ben used his fingers to pry open her vagina to allow his tongue even deeper access, to the point where his tongue actually entered her.

"Yes! Just like that!" He pulled out and let his tongue dwindle on the clitoris.

"Oh my God!" Gwen screamed as she had her first incestuous orgasm. Ben stopped his licking.

"Gwen, would you like it if I put some fingers in you?" he asked.

"Sure, as long as you don't break the barrier."

"Huh?"

"You know, the hymen."

"Ahh, ok." Ben slowly put his index finger in her orifice and slowly moved it in and out.

"Man that feels good. Go faster!" Ben sped up his thrusting.

"Now add some more fingers!" Ben added his index and ring finger, so now there were three fingers pumping in and out of Gwen's cunt. He then got a wicked idea.

"Fasttrack!" he announced as he changed into the speed-demon alien. He plunged his entire hand into Gwen and finger-fucked her at a blistering pace. At the same time, he licked at her clit once more with his tongue. Gwen was soon on the verge of her second orgasm in five minutes. Ben quickly changed back for the grand finale.

"Holy shit! Fuck! I'm cumming!" Gwen cried as she climaxed all over Ben's hand and face. Her juices continued to squirt out, leaving a rather embarrassing yellow stain on the mattress. Ben lapped what was on his hand up and Gwen siphoned the rest off.

"Man, that was an exhilarating two hours," Ben noted.

"Yup. Who know you were such a good woman pleaser?"

"And who knew you could suck cock and were a squirter?"

"Ahh, good times," they both said.

**Cancellation of Lemon Alert**

End of Lemon

There was an urgent knock on the door.

"Ben? Gwen? You guys in there? Open up, it's the king!"

"Just a minute, your highness," Ben replied.

"Oh crap, got to get dressed before he comes in here!" Gwen whispered.

"Hehe, no problem for me," Ben said. He transformed into a random alien and then back to human again, instantly re-clothed.

"Hey! No fair! I don't have that instant clothes generation ability."

"Guess you'll have to walk around naked then. I'm letting him in."

"No, Ben. He can't see me like this! He'll suspect the worst."

"Leave it to me," Ben answered. He opened the door for the king.

"There you guys are! I've been looking all over for- Gwen! What happened?"

Gwen was awkwardly trying to shield both her chest and the area between her legs from the king's view. He could, however, summarize that she was naked underneath all of that and that gave him a bulge in his pants. He noticed that she noticed it.

"Um, sorry. This is so embarrassing," the king said, red in the face.

"Don't sweat it. Men all get that around voluptuous women like me. It's natural."

"Anyways, mind telling me what happened?"

"I was raped," Gwen sobbed.

"What?! Who did it?"

"I don't know. It was a well-spoken man, around the same height as my cousin."

"Was it your cousin?" the king prodded.

"What?! This is an outrage! I would never fall so low as to hurt my own flesh and blood!" Ben shouted.

"Relax son. I'm just trying to establish some details. I didn't accuse you."

"No it wasn't my cousin. It looked like one of the locals. He had on various tools, so I think he was a blacksmith."

"And?"

"Well, he was very rough with me as you can see from my clothes being strewn all over the place." She picked up her mangled bra and showed it to the king.

"Um, can you excuse my use of colorful language here? It manages to capture my emotions right about now," the king asked.

"Yeah. Let it out," they both said.

"That filthy, traitorous, lying motherfucker of a pharmacist! He must have done this. I'll have him hanged for this, as soon as my men manage to drag him back."

"What?" Ben asked.

"He's also a wanted con-artist who almost killed Anna by wasting my precious time."

"Jesus! I'm very sorry you had to go through that."

"Well, all of that will be behind us when we catch that son of a bitch." The king examined the bed. He found the result of Gwen's orgasm.

"Hmm, I think I found evidence of a crime. I'll have it examined to determine its DNA."

"There's no need. That's mine," Gwen said. "He gave me that orgasm."

"And what about this puddle of semen on the floor that I see," the king asked, pointing. Here, Gwen burst into tears.

"Oh, how that happened was the worst part! Ben, you tell him what happened. I can't bear it!" Gwen sobbed and lied some more. And so, Ben began his half of the tale.

"I happened to enter the room right as my cousin was having that orgasm. The sick bastard saw me and probably thought, "What a wonderful idea to have these two related people fuck. It being so wrong is what gets me off. And then he laughed wickedly."

"So he forced you to have sex with your cousin against your will?" the king asked Ben.

"Yes, sadly that's what transpired."

"What an ingenious criminal we have here. It must be that pharmacist. Only he would have the brains to commit such a heinous crime and set up the scene so that poor Ben here would get blamed for raping his cousin!"

"That's not the worst part, sir," Gwen said.

"What other horrible thing happened to you?"

"He made me ejaculate inside of her, your majesty. Gwen's going to have my baby, "Ben said solemnly.

"Not if I can help it! Come on, you're getting an abortion!" the king cried, dragging Gwen along with him almost out the door. She dug her heels into the floor.

"No, no! It's fine. I can have his baby."

"But that's sick! You want to have your cousin's kid?" Ben stepped in to assist her.

"Look, my cousin decided she wants to have my kid, and no one's going to stop her from making her own decisions."

"Damn it! I wish we still had that patriarchal system, but alas, we got rid of it a century ago."

"So, what was your real reason for coming here?" Gwen asked, finally stopping her crying.

"Well, I was going to tell you guys to ask those two what they wanted to eat for dinner, but obviously you have much more important matters to deal with. You need bed-rest, Gwen."

"I'm fine! I can manage."

"Not with that baby growing inside you."

"Dude, it was only two hours ago when she was attacked. It takes weeks for there to be even signs of pregnancy."

"Fine, fine. Put some clothes on, Gwen. You can't ask Elsa like this."

"Yeah? Where am I going to get some? Mine are all ruined."

"Well, that's your problem," the king said as he left the room.

"Nice move, Sherlock. You made up this elaborate rape story just to cover for the fact we engaged in incestuous behavior?" Gwen asked.

"Hey, no one said you had to go along with it. You could've told the king the truth. Instead, you decided to play along," Ben said defensively.

"And now an innocent man's going to for it."

"Oh relax. He's not that innocent. Remember, he almost killed Anna by wasting the king's time. That's gotta be worse a crime than your 'rape'. If he isn't convicted for your rape, he's going to be convicted for attempted murder. Either way he's going to be found guilty for something."

"True, true. Now what are we going to do about my clothing?" Gwen asked, slightly paranoid now.

"Hey Professor Paradox! Can you help us?"

"Certainly, certainly. What can I help you two with? No, Gwen, I'm not looking at your nakedness if you were wondering. I've got my eyes shut."

"We need some clothing for Gwen. I kind of ripped it all up when we had our little romp in the undergrowth."

"I must say it was quite foolish of you two to punish a man for a crime he did not commit solely because you two had messed up hormones."

"It's called true love, professor. And the man's not completely innocent," Ben retorted.

"I know I of all people should know the most about love. I cannot die after all and I must admit, I do look quite handsome. However, I never met anyone in my life who I felt an attraction for. How ironic!"

"You know, I still need clothing here!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Oh, here you go." An exact replica of what Gwen had been wearing before magically appeared in Paradox's hand, which he handed to Gwen, who put them on hastily.

"Where'd you get this? It's not like I own another pair of everything," Gwen asked, after she finished dressing.

"Parallel universes remember? What happens in one universe…"

"stays in that universe. Yes, we know that," Ben said.

"So, it's like you guys never committed incest in your universe and hence why that universe's Gwen didn't get her clothes ripped. So, I was able to get an exact copy of that Gwen's clothing and bring it to you."

"Wait, so there're two copies of us whenever we travel between universes?" Ben asked.

"Well, the one back home is like a statue. It exists, but cannot do anything."

"Fascinating," Gwen said.

"You got me confused," Ben said.

"Oh, take a course in theoretical physics and string theory. Then come back and talk to me. Until then, tada!" Paradox disappeared.

"So, shall we go ask our dependents?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah let's go. Smell you later cuz."

"That's not a very nice thing to say, especially when we just confessed our love for each other!"

"Ok, ok! See you later. Is that better?"

"Yes. See ya!" Ben went to Anna's room while Gwen went to Elsa's.

Elsa's Room

Elsa quickly closed the book she had been writing in as soon as she heard Gwen approach.

"Hey Elsa, what do you want to eat. It's almost ten."

"No. I'm not hungry."

"Mind if I sit down?"

"No, by all means, do." Gwen sat down next to her.

"What troubles you, Elsa?"

"I'm lonely. I want Anna here with me."

"I'm sorry, but you've got to keep your powers hidden from her and the only way to do that is to keep you guys separate."

"I've been writing in my diary about everything that happened today," Elsa confessed.

"Keep a diary. It helps ease the pain of isolation." Elsa nodded.

"I'm going down to the dining hall. Come down if you need anything."

"Ok, thanks." Gwen left for the dining hall.

Anna's room

"Hey! Anna! Time to tell me what you want for dinner!" Ben yelled.

"Elsa!" was the response.

"I'm sorry, but you can't eat your sister."

"No, I want to meet her so we can build a snowman."

"So no dinner?"

"Not before we make a snowman."

"Ok, suit yourself then. That means more for me!" He ran towards the dining hall.

Dining Hall

"The end of another year," the king commented. "I hope you've all enjoyed this year, yes?" He glanced around at his three other guests.

"Let's not talk about it," Gwen said, playing her role perfectly.

"Well, besides you, everyone else had a good year?" the king asked rather rudely.

"Why? What happened to you?" the queen asked.

"Her cousin here was forced to rape her against his will by a despicable man. But enough violence for tonight. Let the feast commence!"

Servants brought in trays of food from all over the world and everyone dug in. Halfway through the roast beef, there was a commotion outside.

"It wasn't me, it wasn't me! I swear I didn't do it!" the pharmacist cried as he was dragged before the king.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" the king demanded.

"Whatever crime you're thinking of killing me for, I didn't do it."

"You are charged with defiling a maiden of my guard using your fingers, forcing her cousin penetrate her, and most heinous of all, almost causing my child Anna to die from your fake medical advice! How do you plead?" the king thundered.

"Not guilty, sir?"

"Well, we'll let the court decide your fate. Take him away!" The guards dragged the guy away and locked him up in the dungeon.

"That death sentence is secured," the king said.

"No! We have to give him a fair trial," Gwen responded.

"Very well. The trial of_ Kingdom of Arendelle V. __Josef Abaelard_ begins tomorrow at sunset. I expect you all to be in the town square tomorrow."

"Are we to bring our charges?" Ben asked.

"Well, it's not really appropriate for those two, so keep them in the castle. All the townspeople excluding children are going to be there."

"Well, I look forward to hanging the man myself after what he did to me," Gwen said bitterly.

Meanwhile…Outside Elsa's door

Anna banged on the door several times.

"Elsa? Are you in there?"

Do you wanna build a snowman?  
Come on lets go and play  
I never see you anymore  
Come out the door  
It's like you've gone away-  
We used to be best buddies  
And now we're not  
I wish you would tell me why!-  
Do you wanna build a snowman?  
It doesn't have to be a snowman.

"Sorry Anna. I'm really busy right now."

Okay, bye...


	8. Trial Prep

Trial Preparation

_The next morning_

Gwen woke up in a daze and glanced around her room. _Oh, what a night it's been. I just committed incest with my cousin and actually enjoyed every minute of it! What the hell is wrong with me?_

There was a knock on her door.

"Gwen, are you up yet?" her cousin's voice echoed on her side of the door.

"Huh? What is it?"

"It's the trial, remember? Time for Dr. Abaelard to get what he deserves!"

"Ben, we can't lie about what happened. We have to tell the truth and the truth is that this whole trial is based on a lie. None of what we told the king actually happened."

"Yeah, well, no one has to know until the guy's dead."

"What you're doing is perjury and I won't stand for it! I'm going to tell the jury the truth whether you do or not."

"Suit yourself, then." Ben left to go talk to the king.

_Doofus! He's going to mess this whole thing up and screw us over._

Ten minutes later, Ben came back with a special announcement.

"Hey, it's me again. The king said today is the preparation for the trial i.e. jury selection, evidence compiling."

"So when is the trial?"

"Whenever both sides are ready. Listen, get dressed and meet me outside the main gate. We need to discuss how we're gonna win."

_Prison cell #1- around the same time_

Dr. Abaelard was having a terrible day. He'd been set upon by the king's thugs and dragged over to the palace to face a charge that was baseless. He knew he'd get off in a fair trial, but the question was, how fair of a place was Arendelle? He had no idea.

"Hey, hey! Rise and shine!" the king said cheerfully as he tapped on the cell door to get the doctor's attention. _ Now where had that come from? I could've sworn the guy was screaming obscenities at him the day before._ Abaelard decided to ask.

"Why are you being nice all of a sudden? You seem to hate me."

"Let's just say I let my emotions get the better of me and that we got off to a rough start. Now all of that's behind us. By the way, do you care for some breakfast?"

"Rights before breakfast," the doctor insisted.

"Dear God, we've hardly ever had prisoners in this kingdom." _Well, that seemed to be good. There's no reason to break laws in this peaceful kingdom. Either that or this kingdom was ruled by a totalitarian, who everyone feared._

"Ah, yes. I have found it!" the king exclaimed.

"So, are you going to read me my rights?" Abaelard asked, no demanded.

"Yes, yes, of course. According to the rights afforded to you by the constitution, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

"Yes I do. I cannot afford said attorney. Therefore I shall require one to be provided to me."

"That can be arranged. Ben, get down here. The doc wants his attorney!"

Ben hurried down to the prison and looked at the prisoner.

"Hmm, looks like I'll have to bring in a certain someone from my universe."

"Wait, you're not from here?" the king asked.

"I forgot to mention that we're time traveling nomads from another world."

"Well that explains a lot!"

"Hold on, don't be afraid of what you're about to see. Paradox, can you send in Chadzmuth?"

Professor Paradox popped his head out of a portal. All the king could see was a head floating in midair. Naturally, he began to freak out.

"I-but, but-" he stammered.

"Now, now. No need to stutter," Professor Paradox said, calmly stepping out of the portal.

"So you're a real person? Not some kind of illusion?" the king asked. That had been his last hope.

"Just as real as Ben and yourself here. I see we haven't met. Let me introduce myself," Paradox said, striding forwards, his hand outstretched as if to expect a handshake.

"What? No, I must be dreaming!" the king told him, refusing to even look at the hand in front of him.

"Welcome to reality, my dear royal," Paradox said with a smile

"If this is reality, I don't want to live in it! Ben, protect me!" the king cried fearfully, shoving Ben towards Paradox.

"Oh relax your majesty. This man's my friend."

"_Mentor_, Ben. Mentor."

"Right, mentor. Now shake his hand." The king took Paradox's hand and shook it, but let go extremely quickly.

"So, let me introduce myself. My name is Professor Paradox. I am a timewalker from Ben's universe meaning I can travel through time and other universes."

"Why are you here?"

"I am here to assist you with your trial. You wanted the man to have a lawyer, so I shall provide him with one."

"All very well, but where is he?"

"Right here." Paradox held up Chadzmuth who was clearly very unhappy.

"Hey kid! You still haven't paid that bill from the last court case I won for you!" Chadzmuth spat.

"You talking to me?" Ben asked, pretending not to know.

"Yes, you! That case were you were dragged up before the high court and accused of recreating the known universe, remember?"

"Of course I do, mainly when you lost me the case and I had to fend for MYSELF!"

"That wasn't my fault. There was compelling evidence of your innocence, but your opponents were just too stupid to see it!"

"Well, I'm not going to pay up anytime soon. I'm going to go to college soon, but apparently saving the universe a few times wasn't enough to get me a full ride to Friedkin University!"

"Haha. Sucks for you. Now I understand you require my assistance once more?"

"No, it's this guy who does," Ben said, pointing to Josef Abaelard.

"I'm sorry, but I don't represent clients across universes."

"Well, you're going to have to, you little alien. The right to an attorney is enshrined in our constitution," the king said, speaking up for the first time since seeing the Galvan.

"We Galvan are not bound by your human laws. We only care about one thing, which in my case is money, lots of it."

"Hate to break it to you, Chadzmuth, but you're working pro-bono. The man's broke," Ben replied.

"No money, no lawyer. Simple as that." He hopped onto Paradox.

"Come on, timewalker, take me home."

"Hold on! I'll give you money for this one and for last time!" Ben cried desperately.

"How do I know you can be trusted? You still haven't paid for last time!"

"Look, I'll swear it on my life. By next week, you'll be a very rich Galvan."

"Hmmm… deal!"

"Ok, if that's all you need, Ben, I'll be going," Professor Paradox said.

"Thanks professor!"

"Anytime, Ben, anytime." Paradox stepped into the portal and disappeared.

"All right, all right. Everyone out! I have to talk to my client here!" Chadzmuth shooed Ben and the king away. Ben put his ear on the door to listen to what the Galvan had to say.

"Now, I understand you're accused of rape and attempted murder?"

"That is correct. I need you to prove my innocence."

"A piece of cake. All we need is some surveillance tape of you doing whatever you do at the time of the alleged crimes."

"Well I was a doctor at the time of the first incident, but not anymore."

"So we need a tape of you doing nothing. What do you humans do when you do nothing?"

"Well, I…"

"Ben! It's not nice to eavesdrop on people, especially in a trial setting. The right to privacy is also part of our constitution," the king said, dragging Ben away.

"Owww, owww! Watch the ear!"

"Sorry about that," the king said, releasing him.

"Your constitution is a total rip-off of **ours**! Sorry, just had to vent out my feelings."

"You'd better get your cousin up. It's about time you prepared your defense as to what happened." The king left.


	9. One little Lie

How one lie caused mass Hysteria

_Outside the Castle Gates-One hour later_

"Gwen, what took you so long?" Ben asked when he finally noticed his cousin come out the front gate. Immediately, they were swamped by the horde of townspeople demanding answers to why the castle suddenly closed on them.

"Hey, it's those two kids whom the king employed!" a man shouted. They were quickly surrounded by a dozen news reporters.

"Excuse me, sir. I noticed you work in the castle. Do you have any official explanation as to why the gates remain locked ever since a week ago?" a reporter for Arendelle Cable News Network (ACNN) asked.

"There was a terrible incident of which I can provide no further details," Ben replied.

"Miss, when do you think the gates will be opened so that we may enjoy the presence of our king once again?" the same reporter pressed.

"I spoke to the king about that matter directly and he said, as long as it is necessary."

"Meaning?"

"We shall see."

And what about that doctor that was arrested? When's his trial?"

"The trial begins today," Ben said.

"And is the doctor connected in any way, shape, or form to the incident previously mentioned? Is that why he was arrested?"

"He is the main suspect, yes," Gwen replied.

"Gwen, are we just gonna stand here and answer questions all day? We have a trial to win! Do something!" Ben hissed.

"I can't. Not without the crowd knowing I have magical powers."

"Well then, time for some crowd control! Humungousaur-style!" Ben was about to hit the Omnitrix when Gwen grabbed his arm.

"No, Ben. We can't let them find out you can transform either."

"What are we going to do then?"

"I don't know. You're good with making up stuff. Go make up some baloney."

"Hey, Miss reporter lady! Why don't you go prepare tonight's broadcast?" Ben asked. The reporter turned.

"Gee, you think it's ready?"

"Of course! I bet your viewers will love it!"

"Oh, I can see the headlines now! How about something scandalous like Source: Deadly outbreak of mysterious illness kills dozens, forces Kingdom of Arendelle to close its gates." The reporter ran off into the crowd.

"Hey! I never said anything about an illness!" Ben shouted, but it was far too late. The crowd had heard the reporter's headline and panicked.

"Oh my word! I'm going to barricade myself indoors and not come out until this contagion is contained!" A woman cried, clutching her baby to her chest even more tightly while simultaneously voicing the sentiments of thousands. The crowd instantly dispersed, trying to flee the area.

"Wow, I've never seen a crowd disappear so fast," Gwen said.

"Thank God for yellow journalism!" Ben exclaimed.

"Yeah, that was one heck of a lie you told them."

"Hmm, I wonder where they all went."

"Home, like that lady said."

"Or perhaps they are all trying to flee the country as fast as possible," Gwen said, which turned out to be true.

The problem was that Arendelle was rich country where there were even more cars than people. The result was a massive traffic jam on Highway 80 leading south, out of the kingdom.

_Highway 80_

_Beeeeep! Beeeep!_

"Hey! Get a move on will you!" a shabbily dressed man yelled out his window to the car in front of him.

"I'm richer than you. I should be telling you what to do!" the rich guys yelled back.

"You want to fight? I'll give you a fight!" The shabbily dressed man got out of his car, walked over to the limousine in front of him and pounded on the driver's side window.

"Sir, what do I do? There's a deranged man outside."

"Whatever you do, don't let him in! Just keep driving!"

"What? Let him in?"

"**No**! Don't let him in!" The chauffeur opened the passenger side door anyways.

"You idiot! Help me!" the rich guy cried as the poor guy dragged him from the car and prepared to give him a pounding.

"My job is to drive you from point A to point B, not to intervene in fights," the chauffeur said cheerfully. Dozens of people stopped their cars to watch the spectacle, leading to even more gridlock.

_Sky 9 Traffic in a helicopter_

"You are watching to Sky 9 News, Traffic, and Weather. Every five minutes. Now let's head over to Melissa Chung for a look at the road conditions. Melissa, how are they?" news anchor Bob Dole asked.

Melissa was a voluptuous blonde bombshell who was only hired for her good looks. The pilot was ogling her, which made it difficult for her to concentrate on the task at hand.

"Um, Melissa, you're on air."

"Oh, sorry. Yes, as you can see, the conditions are fine on all the secondary streets- _Dylan, stop staring at me!_ Highway 80 seems backed up for miles."

"Anything else you want to report back to our viewers?"

"Ooooh! Look, I can see a brawl going on in the median! Dylan, quit looking at me and get in for a closer look!" Dylan flew in onto the median and Melissa hopped out.

"Excuse me, sir. Why are you punching this poor fellow?" she asked of the poor guy who was beating the rich guy bloody.

"None of your business!" the guy replied as he continued to pummel the defenseless rich guy.

"Stop hitting him for crying out loud!" she screamed.

"Shut-up before I knock you out too!" the poor guy screamed as he turned to the woman. The rich guy took advantage of the opportunity to crawl back to his limo.

"Still want to knock me out?" Melissa asked seductively.

"Hell no! I want to knock you up!" the guy exclaimed as he reached into his pants, paying no attention to where he was going. He crossed the barrier and into the path of traffic going in the opposite direction.

"Watch out! You just stepped into oncoming traffic!" she warned.

"Huh?" Then it dawned on him.

"Oh shit!" he managed before he was flattened by a bus. The bus stopped and backed up the other cars behind it. Now traffic on both sides of the highway was blocked.

"Ok, that's enough violence and sexual harassment for today! I'm out of here!" She climbed back onto the helicopter.

"There you have it folks! Whatever you do, don't go on highway 80! And if you're already on there, good luck 'cause you're gonna need it! This is Melissa Chung reporting for Sky 9, over and out!"

"Wait a minute Melissa! I can see the mayor in that traffic jam!" Bob shouted.

"Oh boy. Go in for another look, Dylan."

The mayor and his motorcade were stuck along with the rest of Arendelle's population. He was getting quite impatient.

"Come on, come on! I have an important meeting at 5 and it's already 4:30!"

"Just in sir. The meeting's been cancelled. Apparently the people you're supposed to meet are also stuck."

"Oh joy! How do I get out of this mess?"

"Make a speech, sir?"

"Hmm. That might work." The mayor got out of his limo and stood on top of it.

"Attention citizens of Arendelle! This is your mayor speaking!" he shouted in vain.

"No one can hear you sir. Here's a megaphone."

"Reporting to you live. Mayor Bill Hitchcock is apparently going to make a speech now!"

"Citizens of Arendelle, there is nothing to fear. There is no pandemic."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Mayor? How come people died then?" everyone else shouted.

"Ok, it was an isolated incident, but it's been contained now. I've just had assurance from the king himself."

"How are we supposed to believe you?"

"I don't know. Go back and see for yourself!" After much grumbling and more gridlock, the entire population of Arendelle got back to the kingdom around midnight the next day.


	10. Return to Evil

Kevin goes Rogue

_Meanwhile walking in the forest…_

"Ok, Ben. We need to find somewhere quiet."

"Why?"

"So I can think about what to say."

"I thought I told you. We're using the doctor as a scapegoat."

"No, Ben. It's against my ethics to lie."

"Hmm. Now's a good time to check up on Kevin, ehh?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. Only, he probably won't be too happy to see me after…"

"What?"

"Ben, you know what happened."

"Oh, right. That thing we did together. Yeah, Kevin's going to be pissed."

"Well, let's hope he doesn't go insane again and try to kill us."

"Dang it, Gwen. You jinxed it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Lovers' quarrel?" Kevin sneered.

"No! It's nothing like that!" Gwen said, rather too hastily.

"I know what you two did, and it ain't right."

"It's right if it's true love, Kevin," Ben interjected.

"You took advantage of your cousin, Ben. That's messed up in virtually every culture."

"Look, you're just jealous because she chose me over you, so why don't you grow up, Kevin?"

"You know what, Tennyson? I think I will!"

"Kevin, I'm sure Ben didn't mean it."

"Enough! I'm sick and tired of you, Ben. First you steal my girl and then you come back and brag to me about how good she is in bed?"

"Whoa! We never had intercourse, I swear!" Ben shouted.

"You might as well have!"

"Calm down, you two. I'm sure we can talk this out peacefully," Gwen said quietly, always the pacifist.

"Stay out of it, Gwen. This is between me and Kevin."

"No, it's between you and the piece of dirt in front out you cause I'm out of here! I never want to see either of you again!" Kevin screamed out his fury and started to run away from Ben and Gwen, towards the boundary between the _Frozen_ universe and Bellwood.

"Kevin! Come back! We need you!" Gwen pleaded as she ran after him. Ben grabbed her around the waist.

"Let go, Ben! I have to find Kevin!"

"No. I'm the one who made him mad, so I'm the one that has to go after him."

"Promise me you won't hurt him?"

"Why would I do that? I'm just going over to have a nice chat with Kevin, that's all."

"And if he refuses to come back, like he most likely will?"

"Even a knucklehead like Kevin can be convinced, Gwen. Just stay here and focus on the trial."

"Good luck, Ben."

"You too." Ben started to run (transforming into XLR8 would attract attention). Gwen teleported herself back to the castle, right on top of the king. There was awkward moment of silence when they noticed how close they were to each other.

"Gwen! Don't do that!"

"Do what?" she asked innocently.

"That teleportation thing. It scared the bejesus out of me!"

"Sorry about that."

"Anyways, where's your cousin? The trial's about to start!"

"Um, he had to take care of some business."

"Well, if he isn't here in one hour, we'll have to start the trial without him."

"Right. I'll make sure he's there."

_Where Kevin is…_

"Tennyson! Always ruining my plans!" Kevin fumed as he kicked a rock. It rolled a long ways before coming to a stop under the foot of Paradox.

"Kevin, what a pleasant surprise! What are you doing out here?"

"I thought you already knew."

"Indeed I do, but enlighten me all the same."

"Ben's such a douche bag! He stole Gwen from me!"

"That must hurt."

"I want to go home. I'm sick of this place."

"But what about the fun?"

"There is no fun anymore. Not with Ben around."

"What can I do to help you, Kevin?"

"Help me get back home!" Kevin demanded.

"So impolite, young man. Try again."

"Arrgh! I'm sick of everyone telling me what I should be doing or not doing!"

"There are rules for a reason, Kevin. They help protect you."

"I don't need protection."

"Oh, but you do. Only the most arrogant of fools think otherwise."

"I'm not arrogant!"

"Then prove it. Help Ben and Gwen out."

"Get out of the way, old man. I'm not going to say it again," Kevin warned.

"So crude and unrefined. I'm sorry, but no."

"I happen to respect you, so I'm going to assume you didn't hear that correctly. I said, get out of my way...NOW!"

"No, Kevin. Go back."

"Don't make me hurt you, old man!"

"So I'm an old man now?"

"Yes, you are. Now, please get out of the way so I don't have to clobber you."

"If I open it for you, promise me that you'll come back?"

"And if I say yes, will you leave me alone?"

"I shall."

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"What do you mean what? I said yes. That was the agreement wasn't it?"

"I admit, I was a bit vague on that one. All right, I'll open the door for you."

Paradox opened the door to Bellwood and Kevin prepared to jump in.

"Don't bother contacting me. I won't be interested."

"Young lad, I'm sure we shall meet again someday."

"Next time I see you, I won't be so polite."

"Meaning?"

"I'll punch first and ask questions later."

"One day you'll regret what you're about to do, Kevin."

"And what's that?"

"You're going to join the Incurseans."

"Me? That's crazy! I may hate Ben, but I certainly won't help his enemies!"

"You know me well enough now to know that I am always right in the end."

"Enough talk out of you old man. And don't bother sending Ben after me! It won't work!"

Kevin slammed the door and hitchhiked the way back to his mom's house. He knocked on the front door. It was locked. On the door, there was a note. It read:

_Dear Kevin,_

_I see that you are on a mission. Hope you come back soon. I'll be out getting some groceries to make your favorite beef stew. Say hello to Ben and Gwen for me!_

_Love you,_

_Mom_

Kevin read the message and flew into a rage at the mention of Ben's name. He crumpled up the letter and chucked it into the trashcan outside. Then, he took out his keys and went inside.

_Meanwhile back where Ben was…_

_Jesus! How does Kevin run so far so fast? I really need to take gym seriously like Gwen's been telling me!_

Ben stopped to lean on a nearby tree stump. Paradox materialized in front of him.

"Professor Paradox?" he panted.

"Hello, Ben. You seem to need more exercise."

"Tell me about it. I've only been running for ten minutes!"

"So, I deduce you want to find Kevin?"

"Yup. Where is he?"

"You just missed him by a quarter of an hour. He'll be at his mom's house now."

"Great! Can you teleport me there?"

"I most certainly can, but I won't."

"And why not? I asked nicely."

"No,no. You've always been polite. It's your choice of words that's the problem."

"Since when did you turn into a Grammar Nazi?"

"Hmm. I think it was the second time I met you way back in Alien Force three years ago?"

"I'm terrible at grammar. Can you give me a hint?"

"Let's see. 'Can' in the way you're using it means physically able to. And of course, I am physically able to make portals, otherwise I wouldn't be known as the timewalker."

"Oh. I meant, may I make use of your portal to find and convince Kevin to come back?"

"You may." Paradox created the portal.

"See ya soon, Prof!"

"Hold on, Ben. I'm not done yet."

"But you created the portal and everything!"

"That was to save time so we could talk now."

"Go on…."

"Let me tell you about the future. Try as you might, you'll find out that you won't be able to convince Kevin to return."

"And?"

"You'll get into an argument. Words will be exchanged that neither of you really mean to say about each other. Kevin will ask you to leave. You, being the concerned friend, will refuse."

"Let me guess what happens next. We get into a physical fight and I kick his ass?"

"If you must you that vulgar term, no, you don't 'kick his ass'. Kevin's a lot more formidable since the last time you fought him."

"Yeah, so? I've got a few more aliens than last time. I can take him any day."

"I'm sure you'll try admirably. But don't be disappointed when you do fail. And lastly, you'll do something that you'll really regret, something that'll turn Kevin against us."

"What's that?"

"Something serious. I'd tell you not to get emotional over it, but I'm sure you would anyway. After all, it is human nature to grieve."

"Thanks for ruining my future, Paradox."

"Anytime, Ben, anytime. That is my job."

"Well, I guess I'll return oh so depressed."

"I'll come pick you up in an hour for the trial."

"Oh crap! Better run!" Ben jumped into the portal.

"Remember, Ben. One hour's all you get!" Paradox yelled, but Ben was already gone.


	11. The agony of Friendship

A battle with Ultimate Kevin

_Ms. Levin's house...garage_

_Woof! Woof!_

"Zed, stop barking! I'm trying to fix my car and I can't concentrate with you making noise!"

_Woof! Woof!_

"Someone there boy?"

Zed whined and laid her head on Kevin's chest.

"All right, all right. I'm coming." Kevin called. He rolled out from under his car and walked over to the door. He saw Ben's silhouette.

"Oh, it's you."

"Hey Kevin. Can I come in?"

"Just leave me alone, will you?"

"So I'm 'that kid who apparently doesn't have a name now' ?" Here Ben laughed. " Come on, I just want to talk."

"Fine, but you're only getting five minutes." Kevin opened the door and let Ben in. Ben noticed the car that Kevin had be fixing.

"So, I see you've been working on your car, even though you refuse to go on missions with us anymore. Seems kind of contradictory to me."

"Get to the point, Tennyson."

"Glad to see I have a name now. Anyways, we need you back on the team, Kevin."

"If you've come all the way here to convince me to go back, forget about it. I'm done with you two."

"It's just not the same without you. Gwen and I both miss your presence. Think about all the good times we've had together. The joy. The laughter. The camaraderie we've built. I've saved your life just as many times as you've saved mine. Gwen too. What about the enemies we've defeated? The Highbreed? Vilgax? Daigon? I probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't given me that helmet to counteract Daigon's brain waves. The Highbreed would've taken over Earth had you not been on our side to sabotage their plans. Vilgax would have beaten me had it not been for you and Gwen tracking down the aliens after they escaped. You've been a hero, Kevin. And that's coming from Ben Tennyson, the hero of the universe."

"Look at that. You've just wasted your five minutes on a friendship speech. Too bad it didn't work."

"Curse you AP Lang! I thought you were supposed to teach me the art of rhetoric!"

"Too late, Tennyson. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

"Come on! Can't you give a man a second chance? I've given you at least two, remember?"

"Some mistakes aren't worth forgiving."

"How ironic," Ben snorted in amusement. "So you mean I shouldn't have given you those chances? You certainly didn't deserve them. Terrorizing the innocent, killing law enforcement, trying to kill me, trying to kill Gwen, torturing Aggregor even though he was already defeated. I only gave you those chances out of the goodness of my heart. The least you could do would be to forgive me."

"Sorry, I'm all out of forgiveness. Now get out of my house!"

"Not without you. I've redeemed you twice and I'll do it again!"

"Looks like this time you're out of luck, then. This is your last warning. Get out now or get clobbered."

"Calm down, Kevin. You're letting your rage control you. It's not really you who's talking."

"Oh yeah? What if I like being angry?"

"You'll get high blood pressure and die at a young age, that's what!"

"That's a risk I'm going to take! Anything to get rid of you for good!" Kevin screamed.

"Dude, you need to cool off! Some nice cold water ought to help!" Ben hit the Omnitrix, going for Water Hazard. Instead he got Big Chill.

"Even better!" Big Chill said in his eerie voice.

"Dieu et mon driot!" Kevin yelled as he charged towards Ben with his hand shaped like a hammer. Ben simply went intangible when he saw the hammer being swung at him.

"Really Kevin? Surely you know by now I can go intangible?"

"Die!" Kevin roared as he swung again at Ben who dodged with ease.

"You don't get it do you? Here, let me show you!" Big Chill froze the floor as Kevin ran towards him again, causing Kevin to slip and fall.

"I'm not done with you, not just yet!" Kevin seethed as he got back up.

"You better stay down. I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh yeah? Who says you can hurt me?"

"Let's see. I've dodged both of your attacks and caused you to fall. I'd say I'm winning right now!"

"I don't know the meaning of give up."

"That's the spirit, Kevin! Keep fighting. Maybe one day you'll find a way to beat me!"

"I already have," Kevin yelled as he began to glow with golden energy.

"What's this? You're evolving?"

"In a way, but I'm not yours to control."

When the glowing stopped, a mutant stood where Kevin once was.

"I'm back, baby!" Ultimate Kevin announced.

"Kevin?! What happened to you?" Big Chill addressed the misshapen chaotic amalgam formerly known as his friend.

"I've been reborn!"

"But how? I thought we drained you of all of my aliens' DNA!"

"Most, but not all. The 1% that was left remained inside of me, dormant, waiting for its rebirth. And now that it has, I'm going to take my revenge on you, once and for all! Gwen may have helped you realize the good that was still inside of me, and prevented me from killing you, but you'll get no such sympathy from me. You're an evil, twisted freak!"

"I'm sorry you see me that way, Kevin, but I can't allow you to hurt any more people."

"You're going to try and stop me again?"

"I shall do only what I must. It's your choice as to how much I do. We can talk it out peacefully, or fight it out, but in the end, I shall find a way to get you back to the Kevin I know!" Ben vowed.

"Such a noble yet pointless speech," Kevin sneered.

"You get one last chance, Kevin. Don't make me do something I will regret."

"I choose option three."

"There is no option-"

"The option where you die!" Kevin exploded.

"Oh, that option is one I don't want to see." Big Chill tried to go intangible again, but Kevin shocked him with Brainstorm's electrodes.

"Arrgh! You're hurting me, Kevin!"

"Good! I want to see you suffer!"

Ultimate Kevin fired Chromastone's laser at Ben and caused him to fly into the roof.

"Kevin, that's enough! Cut it out before someone gets hurt!"

"The only person getting hurt today is you!" Kevin replied as he flew at Ben with Diamondhead's arm raised to smash him a bit more into the ceiling.

"You leave me no choice, Kevin. I tried being nice to you. It didn't work. Now it's-"

"You know why you always get hit?" Kevin asked as he smashed Big Chill's face into the ceiling.

"It's-because-you-never-know-when-to-stop-talking!"

He punctuated every pause with another blow to the face.

_Man, that's sure gonna leave a mark!_ Ben thought. He hit the Omnitrix, transformed into Swampfire, then managed to knock Kevin away with a fire blast to the face.

"That didn't hurt a bit, Tennyson! Are you losing your touch?"

"Time for an upgrade!" Ben responded as he hit the Omnitrix again to transform into-

"Ultimate Swampfire!" he announced.

"Honey, I'm home! Where are you? I brought the meatloaf and beef stew, your favorites!" Ms. Levin called.

"We're in the garage!" Ben called.

"Ben, is that you? Where's Kevin?"

"Yeah, it's me. You might not want to come down here! Kevin's indisposed."

"What? Why not? You can stay for dinner, Ben. We've got plenty to go around."

"No, no, it's fine. Whatever you do, don't come down here!"

"Have you two been building something illegal? I'm coming down to take a look!" She began to walk downstairs.

"Kevin! You have to stop trying to kill me! If your mom sees us…"

"Let her see. You're finished anyways!"

"Hi Ben! What are you two- OH MY GOD! Kevin! What happened to you?"

"Stay back, Ms. Levin! He's dangerous!"

"Son, what happened to you?!"

"I'm not your son! I was born out of rage!" Kevin screamed.

"I can see that!" Ms. Levin screamed in fear.

"Kevin, at least have the decency to avoid confrontation while I move your mom to a safe place."

"And give up a chance to kill you? NEVER!" Kevin yelled as he picked up a standard oil barrel weighing around 300 pounds and threw it at Ben.

"Ben, don't shoot flames at it!" Ms. Levin warned, just as Ben shot flame at the barrel to prevent Ms. Levin and himself from being crushed. Ben then realized his mistake.

"Kevin, take your mom and get out of here!"

Kevin grabbed his mom and flew out just as the entire house exploded. Ben transformed into XLR8, grabbed Zed, and sped out just in time as well.

"Now do you realize what you've done?" he asked.

"We've got more important matters, Ben."

"What is it?"

"It's my mom. She's hurt pretty bad."

Ben looked at Ms. Levin and felt like his heart was about to burst. She'd been burned over 50% of her body and lodged in her chest was a foot long piece of plywood.

"No kidding. That's a level five emergency right there. I'll get her to the hospital as soon as I can!"

"You'll do that for me? After what I did to you?"

"Sure, that's what friends are for, right?" Ben carefully picked up Ms. Levin.

"Ben, time to go!" Paradox said, poking his head out the portal.

"What I'm doing right is more serious than any trial!"

"Sorry, but you have to go now. They need you at the trial."

"Kevin, take your mom and get her to the hospital." He handed Kevin his mom.

"How am I supposed to get there?" asked Kevin, who was now back to normal as his anger had subsided.

"Take your blast-proof car, but you're really wasting your time, Kevin," Paradox said.

"Good luck!" Ben called as he vanished.

"Don't die on me now, mom! Hang in there!" Kevin screamed as he dumped his mom into the car and sped off towards the nearest hospital, Bellwood General. Once he got on the highway, Kevin began to break the speed limit.

_Wee-ooh-WEE-ooh-WEE-ooooooo_

Kevin glanced at the rear-view mirror to find five police cars chasing after him.

"I don't have time for this!" He growled.

"Suspect, pull off the road and step out of the vehicle. You are endangering the welfare of the public by going 112 miles per hour!" the lead patrol officer shouted over a loud hailer. Kevin refused to stop and kept driving.

"Shoot out his tires!"

The secondary officer unloaded his service weapon into Kevin's car tires.

_Bang! Bang! Ping! Ping!_ The bullets struck the tires and ricocheted off.

"Sir, it's no use! They're puncture-proof!"

"All units, we've got a possibly armored vehicle traveling at a very high velocity going southbound on interstate 59. Advised to set up a roadblock at the merge with the highway."

"10-4. We'll get his guy."

At the merge, Kevin was forced to stop due to the twenty police cars waiting for him.

"Sir, I can explain why I had to go that fast."

"License please." Kevin handed over his license.

"Kevin E. Levin, you are under arrest for reckless endangerment by way of reckless driving, gross violation of the speed limit, and attempting to evade the police."

"Not now. This is an emergency!"

"You have the right to remain silent-"

" I waive my rights! Look at my mom here!" Kevin dragged the officer over to his car. The cop looked inside.

"My lord! We'll deal with all of this later! Do you require a police escort to get to the hospital?"

"Yes. And mind radioing ahead for the hospital to meet us there?"

"Of course."

Kevin got back on the road now under police escort for the final leg of his journey.

_Bellwood General Hospital_

The hospital staff was already waiting with a gurney when they arrived and quickly loaded Ms. Levin onto it.

"Vitals aren't looking good. We've got 83/51, weak pulse, multiple burns, deep puncture wound with the object still lodged in..." a nurse reported. They rushed her to the operating room. Kevin wanted to follow them, but was prevented from doing so.

"Son, we're doing everything we can to save your mom I'm Doctor Brown by the way," a doctor consoled Kevin.

"I need to be in there with her! She needs me!"

"No, you'd just be a distraction. Come, sit down. Can I get you anything to drink? To Eat?"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Kevin said miserably as he sat down on the bench and buried his face in his hands.

_Operating room_

After a grueling hour, Ms. Levin seemed to be making a recovery. Most of her burnt skin had been grafted.

"Vitals are looking good," the nurse reported, checking the ECG machine. "Almost normal blood pressure, strong pulse. I think she's gonna make it!"

"She's not out of the woods just yet. There's still that piece of plywood lodged in her chest," the surgeon said.

"Better get that out before we let her son in."

"When they removed it, she began a turn for the worst.

_Beep! Beep! Beeep! Beep! Beeeep! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_

"We've got a flatline! Someone get the paddles!"

"No! Paddles are no good. Give her some vasopressin and start chest compressions!" the doctor ordered.

After twenty minutes of resuscitation, her heart came back online, but it was extremely weak.

"Oh boy. I can barely see the spike on the ECG every time her heart beats."

"Get her son in here. I think we're losing her."

"Kevin, would you like to come in and say your last goodbyes?"

"What?! You said she was fine an hour ago!"

"Everything changed when we removed the plywood from her chest."

Kevin went into the operating room.

"I'm truly sorry, son. We gave it our best, but her chest wound was simply too extensive," Dr. Brown said.

"Why are you talking about my mom like she's already dead? She's not dead!"

"I know, but it's only a matter of time now. She may only have a few minutes left. We'll leave you to say your goodbyes." All the medical staff promptly left the room.

"Mom? Can you hear me? It's me, Kevin!"

"Kevin? Is that you?"

"Yes, mom. I'm here for you."

"You're not a monster anymore?"

"No, I learned how to control it."

"Goodbye, son. Mommy will always love you."

"Don't go, not yet!"

"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love."

"What?"

"You'll always be my hero, Kevin. Now go out there and save the world!" She sighed, forced a smile, and breathed her last.

"Mom? Mom? Mom! Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Kevin screamed, shaking his now lifeless mother, begging her to come back.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_ The ECG flatlined for the last time, signaling the end of her heartbeat. The staff came back in.

"I'm so sorry, Kevin. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Yeah, you can die now!" Kevin screamed, mutating back into Ultimate Kevin.

"Oh shit! We're so screwed!" all the staff screamed in fear.

"How right you are!"

Ten seconds later, the entire building was only a charred wreckage of twisted concrete and steel. Only Ultimate Kevin survived.

"Don't think you're spared, Ben! If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened! I'll get my revenge on you, you hear? I shall get revenge on everyone who did me wrong!" He screamed into the night.


	12. Emperor Milleous-Laughingstock

**This is a really short chapter with some humor in it**

What Ails Emperor Milleous?

_Washington D.C-White House_

"Why haven't we located Ben Tennyson yet? It's been months!" Emperor Milleous screamed.

"Daddy, the fleet's been working around the clock trying to find a cure for your asthma. After all, you can't catch Ben Tennyson when you're sick," Attea said sweetly.

"Who *cough* said I had *cough* asthma?!" Milleous sputtered.

"Calm down, daddy. You don't want to get too excited. You might hurt yourself."

"I AM calm!"

"Um, sir. I thought you did 'cause you were having difficulty breathing and everything," a soldier said timidly.

"And why did you think that, you buffoon? I, Emperor Milleous never get sick!"

"It was your reaction to Walkatrout, sir."

"Walkatrout? He can't even do anything out of water!"

"That's exactly why sir. You laughed so hard you had difficulty breathing and were wheezing."

"How come I don't remember anything?"

"Shortly afterwards, you had a seizure and was knocked unconscious because your head hit the floor."

"Never ever mention this to anyone, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good! Now get out of my sight, you slimeball!" The private ran out of the Oval Office.

""Hey daddy, you forgot that I was with you when you had that panic attack."

"So?"

"I kind of told everybody about your condition."

"You what?!"

"Oh, it was for a good cause. Morale's shot up 100% percent."

"I thought it was already at max."

"Oh no. It was close to zero before. Then everyone found out you were a laughingstock…"

"Enough of this rubbish!" Milleous bellowed.

"Ok, ok! Ima go get some people to find Tennyson."

"On the double!" Milleous screamed. Attea found the Tennyson trackers playing CoD MW3.

"Hey, Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire and apparent asthma suffer wants you to get off your lazy behinds and be productive!"

"All right, name something productive we can do!"

"I don't know. Go monitor all the Anti-Tennyson activities."

"Sure thing Princess."

The soldiers ran over to the console and quickly found the source of the massive amount of energy emitted from Bellwood General.

"Hey Emperor, I think we found a potential ally!"

"Who is it?" Milleous asked, coming over.

"See for yourself," the soldier said as he turned the screen towards his boss.

"Excellent. Yes, we'll need to pay a little visit to Mr. Levin here. He'll make a nice addition to our Kill Ben Tennyson coalition.


	13. The Trial of Abaelard V Frozen Universe

**Contains mentions of incest and rape!**

The Trial and its Aftermath

_The Trial_

"Ben, Gwen, you guys ready?" the king asked.

"Yup. I think we are," Ben answered.

"I've decided against a public trial. I think someone's been spreading a rumor of illness to keep everyone away."

"Is that so?" Ben asked nervously.

"Yeah. I sent out seat reservations and no one's responded."

"Ben, don't act stupid. You started the rumor!"

"Why?"

"We were in danger of getting mobbed. I had to think of something and fast."

"Oh well, we can still televise it," Gwen said.

"Come on. I'll show you guys to the courtroom." The king led them to the courtroom. The jury was already selected. It was full of people from the _Frozen _universe.

"Just saying, but this jury looks kind of biased," Gwen noted.

"Why is that?"

"We should get at least some representation from our universe to make this a fair trial."

"I see. Call your Professor friend in."

"It's Paradox, and I already know of a way out of your dilemma," Paradox said, materializing out of thin air along with Kai Green, Julie Yamamoto, Michael Morningstar, Lucy, Reinrassic the Third, and Rook Blanco.

"Hello, lovely Gwen. I've seen you've been doing well."

"Back off, Michael. She's mine," Ben told him.

"Eww! You dumped me for your cousin?!" Julie yelled.

"You dumped me first over Sumo Slammers Five!"

"Ben Ben Tennyson! It is good to see you!"

"Hey Rieny. It's been over three years since we last met. How's everything going?"

"Never better. Ever since you repaired our DNA, I'm glad to say we've stopped the process of inbreeding! However, I see you have not."

"Um, let's not talk about it. It's kind of complicated."

"All right people. The trial's about to start. Jurors, take your places!" the king shouted. The people from Ben's universe replaced half of the people from _Frozen._

"I shall be the judge. Who's the attorney for the persecution?"

"I volunteer for that in addition to my role of teleporting witnesses in and out," Paradox said cheerfully.

"Excellent. Now we can begin the trial of _Dr. Abaelard v. Kingdom of Arendelle_! All rise for the judge!" Everyone stood up.

"You may all be seated." Everyone sat down.

"So, Dr. Josef Abaelard here stands accused of engaging in penetration of a maiden's sacred orifice through the use of his hand, use of force to compel her cousin to commit the incestuous act of actual penetration via man genital, and deliberately obstructing the deliverance of aid to a sickly child. Opening argument of the defense?"

"Your honor, I'd like to request a change in the climate of this room. I feel that the negative environment generated in your universe will prove a hindrance to my client's access to a fair trial," Chadzmuth said.

"You've got any better location?"

"How about in outer space, in a universe-less setting aka all the universes combined into one?"

"Even if there were such a place, how would we be able to get there?"  
"That's easy! Like that!" Chadzmuth snapped his fingers and everyone was teleported to the Intergalactic High Court.

"Why did you bring all these people here all of a sudden, Chadzmuth? You better have a good reason," said Judge Domstol.

"My client was unable to get a fair trial in the universe we were just in, so I knew I had to bring it into a more neutral place."

"Now where did the alleged crime take place?"

"Crimes with an s. My client is accused of three, and the place was in the universe we were just in, like I told you."

"And where is this universe?"

"Well, technically, it's out of this galaxy. It's not even in the same dimension as this one!" Ben butted in.

"Sorry, but then this case is effectively out of my jurisdiction. I only deal with cases existing in one dimension at a time. You'll have to deal with it in the place where the crimes took place."

"But what about my client? He can't get a fair trial in that place!"

"I told you no, and I'm sticking to it. It's time for you all to go. Case dismissed!" Judge Domstol banged his magical gavel and returned the trial back to Arendelle's courtroom.

"So, back to your opening argument," the king told Chadzmuth. Chadzmuth stood up.

"Good morning ladies, gentleman, and aliens of the jury. My name, as most of you already know, is Chadzmuth, legal Galvan attorney yada, yada, yada. Now, the prosecution claims that my client is a rapist and an attempted murderer. However, they forgot to mention the mountain of evidence that completely contradicts the accusations. I have them right here and I will be showing them to you shortly. I hope you listen to me and my superior intellect and not to those numbskulls over there. Please return a verdict of not guilty. Thank you." He sat back down.

"And now, let's hear the prosecution's opening statement."

"I happen to admire the Galvan's superior intellect. However, that doesn't mean Mr. Chazmuth's argument cannot be disproven. I have surveillance video that clearly shows the defendant delaying speedy aid to the king's daughter. Please return a verdict of guilty." Paradox said.

"Member's of the jury, the fate of Mr. Abaelard rests in your hands. A majority vote will suffice in determining innocence, or guilt. Now, let's proceed on with the evidence."

"Here I've got a bag of semen and a badly mauled bra," Chadzmuth said, holding up the items. "Now, I've had the semen tested in an independent lab, and the results show that the DNA found in the semen is a 99.9% match with that of Ben Tennyson. Therefore, my client could not have committed the crime. The true perpetrator of the crime was none other than Benjamin Kirby Tennyson! What's more shocking is that said person and the accuser, Gwendolyn Catherine Tennyson are related!"

"Objection! Your client forced Mr. Tennyson to ejaculate inside of Ms. Tennyson."

"But you're forgetting about my second piece of evidence. Feast your eye, members of the jury, upon the bra that Gwen Tennyson was wearing at the crime scene. Notice the mangled shape? Well, that could only come from one of Benjamin's aliens!"

"But which one, Chadzmuth?" Paradox asked.

"Let's ask the expert, the creator of the Omnitrix himself! Go get Azmuth!" Paradox teleported Azmuth into the room.

"Do you, sir, swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" the king asked.

"What am I doing here? I don't have time for your frivolous human lawsuits!"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes, yes. Anything to get this down quickly."

"This will just take one moment, great thinker. Tell me, what sort of Omnitrix alien would leave bite marks such as these on this article of clothing?" Chadzmuth showed Azmuth the mangled bra.

"Must be a Vulpimancer," Azmuth said, without examining the bra very closely.

"Are you sure? You're positive?"

"Yes. I can see some faint orange hair that possibly came from the fur. All Vulpimancer from the planet Vulpin, where I got the DNA for Ben's alien copy from, have orange fur."

"So now all we have to do is confirm the color of Ben's Vulpimancer transformation."

"Paradox, get me out of here! I've got stuff to do back home on Galvan Five!" Azmuth cried.

"Certainly, old friend." Azmuth disappeared.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Ben. Show the jury your transformation!" Chadzmuth shouted.

"Crap! We're so screwed!" Ben hissed to Gwen as he transformed into Wildmutt. There was an instant uproar. All the jurors from _Frozen _instantly fainted at the sight of the Vulpimancer. The king managed to stay conscious only because he'd heard of Ben talk about transforming before.

"So this is one of your many aliens, I presume?" he asked.

_Woof! Woof!_

"Ben can't talk when he's in this form, but I think he's agreeing with you," Gwen said.

_Ahem_! Chadzmuth cleared his throat loudly. "So, as this clearly proves, my client is not guilty of rape. Mr. Tennyson here committed incest!"

"Objection! We need a clear definition of incest. As I recall, I am allowed to call experts into the courtroom to back up my client's case, am I not?"

"Yes, you are allowed," the king said.

"Good. I call Professor Hex from Friedkin University to the stand." Hex appeared.

"Good day gentleman. How can I be of assistance today?"

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" the king droned, clearly bored.

"Yes, but to what?"

"We need your expertise to help defend young Ben here," Paradox said.

"Ben? Ben Tennyson?"

"Yes, my cousin," Gwen said. Hex looked up.

"Gwendolyn, there you are! I haven't seen you in my class in a long time."

"Grrrr," Wildmutt growled. He pounced on Hex suddenly and bared his fangs an inch from the guy's neck.

"Ben, get off of Professor Hex!" Gwen cried.

"Order! Order in the courtroom!" the king cried, banging his gavel.

"Gwendolyn, help me!" Hex whimpered. Gwen rushed over and managed to drag Wildmutt off the professor.

"Ben, don't attack witnesses. If you do so again, I'm going to have to hold you in contempt of court."

"Huh? Sorry, my dog instincts kicked in. Hex was hitting on Gwen," Ben said, transforming back to normal.

"No I wasn't. I was merely questioning why she dropped my class."

"You switched subjects, and quite frankly, what you're currently teaching got boring on the second day," Gwen replied.

Anyways, like Professor Paradox said, I am Professor Hex and I teach family relations at Friedkin University. I now want to talk to you all about-"

"Why'd you switch subjects? I loved your magical artifacts class!" Gwen interrupted.

"After what happened with Charmcaster, I decided that I needed explore what parenting is all about, and I thought, what better way to learn than to teach the subject? Like I was saying before Gwendolyn so rudely interrupted me, I want to talk to you all about the very sensitive topic of incest."

"Hold on. Better wake the rest of the jury up. They can't miss this," the king said. Gwen dumped a bunch of water on the six people who had fainted, waking them up.

"Ho! Huh? What did we miss?" the foreman of the jury, a rather rotund individual asked.

"Oh, nothing important. You were only out for around a quarter of an hour," Paradox said.

"Carry on with your speech, professor," the king said.

"Incest is any sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This includes both blood relations and people related by affinity; adoption, marriage, being of the same lineage. The incest taboo is, and has been one of the most widespread of all cultural taboos, both in present day society, and in many past societies. Many modern societies have laws regarding incest or closely consanguineous relationships. Common justification for the incest taboo is the impact inbreeding may have on the offspring of incestuous sex. Children whose parents are genetically closely related are at increased risk of congenital disorders, death, and disabilities."

"Aha! Thank you for proving my point. You see, I am worried about the poor children that may result from Ben and Gwen's relationship. If it weren't for the risk of genetic defects, I would have no problem with them being together. But, there is!"

"Really? I came here under the impression that all you cared about was money. You'd never give a hoot about anybody unless it would make you even richer than you already are!" Ben yelled.

"Hey, hey! However miserly I may be, I still have very high moral standards!"

"Then perhaps you'll have enough decency to let me finish my speech?" Hex asked.

"What?! There's more?"

"I'm far from done if that's what you're thinking. For those who do not yet know, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson and Gwendolyn Catherine Tennyson are related through their paternal grandfather, Max Tennyson. This makes them first cousins, meaning 12.5% of their DNA is related or r, the coefficient of relationship, equals .125. Now, most legally prohibited degree of kinship regarding incestuous relationships concern relations of r=.250 or higher, while most permit unions of individuals r=.125 or lower. So, there you have it. It's not incest if most of the world permits it."

"Sure, it may be legal, but what about the possibility of genetic defects?" Chadzmuth pressed.

"Even in a normal relationship, there is a small risk of the offspring having genetic defects; around 2%. For first cousin relationships, the risk is only slightly elevated at 4 to 6%. That means at the very least, any children that Ben and Gwen may have will have a 94% chance of being completely healthy."

"Ok,ok. It's not incest in this case. However, there is still the charge of perjury. The Tennysons did lie about this whole incident. There was no Rape!"

"Agreed. Ben and Gwen, you're both charged with perjury, lying under oath," the king said.

"Paradox, my work here is done. Beam me up!" Hex cried. Hex disappeared.

"So now, onto the final charge Mr. Abaelard is facing for blatant disregard for human life."

"I have here a surveillance tape of what went on in the shop while the king, queen and their children were there. I now roll the film for the jury to see what kind of inhumanity exists in Mr. Abaelard's shop."

Paradox put the cassette into the VCR and hit play. The following transcript played:

"_Greetings my king. What brings you to my establishment today?" the owner asked._

"_Help me. It's my daughter," the king said._

"_Your daughter? You mean the one cowering behind you?" Dr. Josef Abaelard asked._

"_What? No! Elsa," here the queen dragged Elsa into view, "hit Anna," here the queen pointed to Anna, who was still unconscious, "with her ice powers."_

"_And you are hoping that I have some cure that will fix everything?"_

"_Exactly. Can you do it?" the king asked._

"_That depends. Where was Anna hit?"_

"_The forehead," the queen said._

"_Oh no, no, no. A wound of that nature is surely mortal. In fact, it's a miracle she even survived this long. Go home and bury her!"_

"_Are you sure there is absolutely nothing we can do to save her?" the queen pleaded._

"_Nope. Anna's gonna die!"_

"_Mom, I don't see his license. Is he a real doctor?" Elsa asked._

"_Ok, son. Let me see your credentials!"_

"_Credentials? Yes sir, absolutely. It'll just be a minute."_

"This proves nothing!" Dr. Abaelard screamed.

"On the contrary. This piece of evidence proves that you're clearly wasting the king's valuable time."

"My client is innocent as nothing here proves the accusation you have just made."

"Then why run away?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did Mr. Abaelard run away if he wasn't guilty, eh?" Here Paradox skipped forward a few minutes and hit play again.

"_Well, I'll be going now. Good-bye!" The fake doctor slammed the door shut and made a dash for it out the back-door._

"He was frightened by the sight of heavily armed men," Chadzmuth insisted.

"No, he was afraid of being exposed as the fraud he truly is!"

"All right! That concludes the trial. The jury shall now decide on the three charges brought before you. Remember, a majority vote is required to acquit or convict. Good luck!" the king said. The twelve member jury went into the back room to deliberate. Meanwhile the king cheerfully served lunch.

"Hey, pass the pheasant will you?" the fake doctor asked.

"Certainly. You should enjoy your last moments of freedom after all," the king said with a smile as he gave the bird to the doctor. Dr. Abaelard took a rather large piece and started to choke the moment the gravity of the king's words hit him.

"Crap! What do we do?" the king asked as the doctor turned blue.

"Someone do the Heimlich!" Ben yelled. Gwen raced over and gave the doctor a few abdominal thrusts.

"Thank you kind girl for saving my life."

"Back off. I'm warning you…" Ben muttered.

"Sir, we've reached a verdict on all three charges," the foreman said, coming out of the back room along with the rest of the jury.

"Well, what do you have?"

"On the charge of rape, we the jury by unanimous vote, find the defendant, Mr. Josef Abaelard not guilty."

"Nice work there, chap!" Mr. Abaelard exclaimed as he smacked Chadzmuth on the back in celebration.

"One down, one to go."

"On the charge of careless disregard for life, we the jury by a vote of seven to five, find the defendant guilty."

"And finally, on the charge of perjury, we the jury by a vote of nine to three, find the defendants, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson and Gwendolyn Catherine Tennyson guilty!"

"What?! This is an outrage!" Ben shouted.

"No, we deserved it," Gwen said quietly.

"Who voted for us?" Ben asked. "I have half a mind to hug them!"

'I voted for you, Ben, even though you love your cousin," Kai said.

"Thanks."

"Ben Ben Tennyson, I recalled your efforts to save the Highbreed from extension, so I voted for you."

"And let me guess, the last vote was from Rook, my bestest buddy in the whole world!"

"Actually, the last vote was from me," Darkstar said. "I did it solely because of lovely Gwen here."

"Rook, why didn't you vote for us?"

"Because you two clearly lied. My duty was to give an unbiased opinion of what I saw to be the truth and you lying was the truth."

"What sentence do you pronounce?" the king asked the jury.

"Hard labor for all three."

"In light of their previous efforts spent saving the world, I request that the sentence for Gwen and Ben be withdrawn," Paradox said.

"Request granted due to the relatively minor infraction," the king agreed.

"Hey! What about my client?" Chadzmuth demanded.

"Sorry, but hard labor is a relatively minor punishment for such a serious crime. Sentence is upheld."

"Where's he going to work?" Ben asked.

"How about the local university?" Gwen suggested.

"Excellent idea! Mr. Abaelard, you are to work at the Arendelle Institute of Technology (AIT) for the duration of your sentence. What say you to that?"

"Thank you, thank you! It has always been my dream to educate people."

"You begin work at the start of the next semester. Case closed!" the king declared as he banged his gavel. Paradox sent the Ben 10 jurors back to their universe.

_Later on in private-Ben's room_

"Ah, what a happy ending!" Gwen sighed.

"Maybe not. We still have Kevin to deal with. I forgot to tell you he went berserk again."

"He what?!"

"Yeah, he tried to kill me, so we kinda fought, and I accidentally injured his mother."

'You did?!"

"Only severely injured her. I hope she's not, you know," Ben said, unable to continue.

"Dead?" Gwen suggested.

"Unfortunately, you did kill her, Benjamin. She died in the hospital. At least Kevin got to say goodbye," Paradox said with a mournful air as he materialized.

"But I saw it with my own eyes! She wasn't that bad. I mean, she was burned over 50% of her body and had the wood stuck in her, but I've seen plenty of people survive worse."

"Perhaps it was due to a combination of both her injuries and her loss of the will to live."

"What do you mean?" both Ben and Gwen asked.

"She probably gave up hope after she saw what a monster her son had become. Not that I blame her."

"I still can't get over the fact that I am partially to blame for her death."

"How?" Gwen asked.

"I blew up a barrel of gasoline that Kevin threw at me."

"Ben, you're supposed to protect the innocent, not put them in greater danger!" she said crossly.

"I know, I know! Don't yell at me, ok? I'm still quite emotional," Ben exclaimed as he curled up into a ball and started rocking back and forth.

"Perhaps we should give young Benjamin here some privacy, Gwendolyn. He's obviously still in shock.

"No, you go. I've got to stay here and sort out this mess."

"Suit yourself then." Paradox vanished into thin air.

"Ben, I know you're upset, but you've got to stop crying."

"Upset doesn't begin to describe what I'm feeling, Gwen."

"Ok, so what are you feeling?"

"I feel a sense of duty, of purpose!"

"Ok. You kind of lost me there."

"Don't you get it? The only way I can atone for my sin is to track down Kevin and stop him before he hurts anyone else!"

"Stop him?"

"Yes, Gwen, stop him. By whatever means necessary."

"I'm sure it won't come to that."

"Only time can tell. Goodnight, Gwen." Ben leaned forwards and kissed his cousin on the cheek.

"Sweet dreams, cuz," she whispered as she turned off the light and shut the door to Ben's room._ I hope you think long and hard about what you're about to do…_


	14. Education

**Contains Math!**

How Royalty get their Education

_Three years later (Frozen Universe)-Elsa's POV_

"So if I have here a number n, say n= 7, and my function is 6(n+9), then what is the new value function at n=7?"

"Let's see. Order of operations says I do what's inside the parenthesis first," I said.

"Good, good," Gwen said encouragingly.

"So 7+9 is 16 and 6*16 is 96!" I said confidently

"Excellent! Now let's try another more challenging problem."

*knock knock*

"Must be your sister. She probably wants to build a snowman again." As if on cue, my sister opened up with that annoying song again.

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Or ride our bikes around the halls

I think some company is overdue

I've started talking to

the pictures on the walls-

(Hang in there, Joan!)

It gets a little lonely

All these empty rooms,

Just watching the hours tick by-

(Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock)

"Just ignore it. I'll handle this," Gwen said as she open the door and confronted Anna.

"Sorry, Anna. You sister's quite busy right now. Maybe some other time?"

"But it's been three years!"

"Yeah, but education is more important than playtime, you know. I'm sure you'll figure it out someday. Now run along now." Gwen shut the door in my sister's face. I could hear her footsteps on the other side of the door. Suddenly, I felt ashamed. I finally realized what my years of solitude had done. Anna was being deprived of her one friend. Me. And I didn't even qualify as a friend anymore. Heck, what kind of friend are you if you shut people out for three years?! I tried to talk to Gwen about it. Of course she wasn't much of a big help, though she tried.

"You sure you can control those powers now?" she asked.

"Yeah. I've been practicing, and I can control it for several hours at a time now."

"Ok. I'll get your parents, and then they'll see if your ready or not." But when my parents came, my nervousness took over. For some reason, they backed me into a corner.

"Hey, I'm claustrophobic, you know!" I tried to warn them.

"That's the true test. We need to see if you can control your powers without the gloves on when you're in difficult situations," my dad said. He continued to get even closer. I suddenly lost control and fired off several ice crystals.

"We'll have to give it a few more years," father said.

"Can I at least talk to Anna at a distance?" I asked.

"We'll see what we can do," my mom said. A few days later on Anna's birthday, my wish was granted. I received a laptop. Apparently Anna got one too for as soon as I logged on to Facebook, I received a friend request from her. I practically screamed in joy.

"Thank you, thank you! You're the best parents a child could ever wish for!" I gushed.

"Oh if only all children were this easy to please," my dad sighed.

"Remember now, use it wisely," my mom warned.

"Oh I will," I said happily as I clicked on 'Accept Friend Request'.

"Hey sis. I see you got one too," Anna messaged me.

"Yup. Now we can talk even though we can't see each other. Haha, kinda like pen-pals," I wrote.

"Pen-pals who haven't written in like three years. Why didn't you come out of your room for all those years?"

"I'm not allowed to say. Anyways, happy birthday!"

"Huh? It's my birthday today?"

"Yeah. Did isolation mess up your brain or something?"

"Oh, I remember now! I'm ten today!" And just like that, we talked our way through the next three years.

_Middle of the third year-Ben's POV_

"Anna, time for today's geometry lesson. Stop chatting with your sister and come over here!" I called.

"Coming!"Anna replied as she ran towards the classroom. When she got there, she found me already on the lesson for today.

"So, today we're going to be focusing on special right triangles. Now what makes these triangles special? Well, there are certain properties that these triangles process that are unique."

"No duh! I could've guessed that when you told me they were special."

I decided to ignore that comment. "One of the triangles is the 30-60-90 triangle, and the other is the 45-45-90 triangle. The ratios of the lengths of the sides of a 45-45-90 triangle are x, x, and x2. That of the 30-60-90 triangle are-"

"x, x3, and 2x. If you know the ratios, you do not need to use the Pythagorean Theorem to find missing side lengths."

"How do you know all of this? I never taught you any of this!" I said in amazement.

"When I first met you, you didn't come across as someone who took their education seriously, to be honest."

"Yeah, that's true. I could get good grades if I only wanted to, but I don't feel like trying," I admitted.

"Under the fairly appropriate assumption that you would probably not be able to teach well, I took it upon myself to master subjects way beyond my years. Hit me with what you're doing in your math class. I bet I could get you an answer."

"Nah. I'm taking calculus. It's probably way too advanced for you."

"Calc? That was like last year for me!"

"Oh really? Then tell me, what is the definition of a derivative?"

"The derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of a quantity, the dependent variable, which is determined by another quantity, the independent variable. Graphically, it is the slope of the tangent line of any point."

"Great! You can help me with my calculus homework then!"

"Sure, I guess. What do you need help with?"

"Well, we're on integration by parts. I have no idea how to even begin," I said.

"Oh, that's easy. First, you have to know what integration of parts states."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Let's say that u=u(x) and v=v(x). Then du=u'(x) and dv=v'(x), right?"

"Ok, I can see the derivatives of the two functions now. So what this thing does for us is find the integral of a function u with respect to a function v by multiplying the two functions together and subtracting the integral of v with respect to u?"

"Exactly! You've got it!"

"Ok, let me try an example."

"Hmm. Try the integral of x cos(x)."

"I have no idea where to begin. This looks like a bunch of baloney."

"Concentrate, Ben! What other integration techniques have you learned? Surely integration by substitution?"

"Oh, right! I set u=x. And therefore du=dx. dv=cos(x), so v=sin(x). Following from the rule, uv is just x sin(x). The integral of v is-cos(x), so the integral of x cos(x) is x sin(x) +cos(x)."

"Well, you forgot the integration constant, C, but other than that, you did well."

"Yes! I knew I wasn't a loser in math!"

"I never said you were. I only said you lacked effort."

"Um, why are we having this conversation anyway?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I just had to prove my intelligence to someone."

"Hmm. With such an IQ, shouldn't you go study at AIT?"

"Yeah. My parents already know about my genius, so they expect me to get into AIT quite easily."

"I'm sure you can get in just by applying."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not. We'll have to see."

Someone, anyone, please review!


	15. The Enemies of My Enemy are my Friends

The Enemies of my Enemy are my Friends

A/N: Ben is not in this chapter until the very end. This chapter is more about building the alliance.

* * *

_Downtown Bellwood, near Mr. Baumann's shop-Kevin's POV_

_Man do I feel hungry! Revenge always seems to give me an appetite. Luckily there's Mr. Baumann's shop nearby for me to grab a bite to eat._ By then, I had calmed myself enough to turn back into my human form. I could hear the wail of the police car sirens as they approached my location. I began to run and soon reached Mr. Baumann's shop.

"Help! Mr. Baumann, they're after me!" I yelled, pounding on the door. There was no response. _Hmm, how about the back door?_ I went out back and tried the door. Not surprisingly, it was locked. Unperturbed, I jimmied the padlock with my special keyhole-shaped arm, and managed to unlock the door. _Creeeeak! _The door groaned as I slowly swung it open. I heard voices from the room beyond.

"Honey, what was that?" A female voice asked.

"It was probably just the wind. Don't act so paranoid!" Mr. Baumann's cranky voice replied.

"Me? Paranoid? You're the one who always screams at poor Ben!"

"Oh shut-up! The kid deserves it. He's always in way over his head, and that gets me irritated. You ought to know that by now, Sheelane. After all, Ben did crash our anniversary. And that reminds me. I never did give you my present."

"Right, you were about to give me it, but then Vulcanus attacked. So, what is it?"

"It's a secret, but here's a hint. You need these," He told her as he handed her a pair of transitions lenses.

"What is this marvelous human invention?"

"They're called transitions for a reason. They automatically adjust to changing light."

"Wow! That's pretty interesting. So, I wager whatever you got me is really intense. Am I right?"

"I promised I wouldn't spill the beans, but yes."

"Show me this present of yours, please?" She begged.

"Alright. But before I do, you need to wear that eye protection," Mr. Baumann said. She put the glasses on.

"Behold, I present to you the Royal Oak Offshore Baguette Watch!" He cried as he opened the case and showed her the watch.

"Oh Iggy! That's so sweet of you! How much did that thing cost you?"

"I've been saving up from the day we first met," Mr. Baumann said proudly.

"So that was 10.22 years ago. Jesus, how much was it?! I mean, I hope you didn't spend your life savings on it!"

"I did, as a matter of fact. However, it was well worth the effort of seeing you happy."

"Awww. You really shouldn't have. Really, how much was it?"

"Prepare to have your mind blown. This one watch cost me a grand total of $1,250,000."

_Alright, that does it! This stupid reunion getting old. Time to crash this party! _I sneaked past the living room and waited by the room they were in for the exact moment.

"My lord! What did all that money get you?"

"Let's see. It says here that it comes with a 42mm x 55mm x 12.2mm 18K white gold case set with 456 baguette-cut diamonds (~47.75ct), diamond paved dial, automatic-winding Audemars Piguet Calibre 2325 movement with large seconds, approximately 38 hours of power reserve, and a 18K white gold diamond bracelet."

"Impressive. Thanks so much!"

"Wait, there's more!"

"More?"

"You don't expect me to give you such a beautiful piece of jewelry for nothing, do you?"

"Huh? You humans are strange."

"I want something in return."

"What is it that you want?"

"I want to be with you forever," Mr. Baumann said as he got down on one knee and took Sheelane's hand in his own.

"Iggy, what are you doing?" She cried.

"Sheelane, will you marry me?"

"Oh, this was so sudden I really don't know what to say."

"Just say 'yes'."

"Yes! I want to be with you forever and become your wife."

"Thank you."

"Now, where did you get that watch?"

"Well, it was a rather complicated story that involved, uh, illegal trading?"

"Excuse me?!"

"He went to Jared," I announced as I waltzed through the door.

"Um, thank you young- Hold on! Kevin, how'd you get through that door?"

"What do you mean, Mr. B? I obviously walked through it like a normal human."

"No, I mean, how did you enter the premises without a key? It's after closing time, you know."

"Oh. You know I'm a master lock-picker."

"Right," Mr. Baumann said. "This here is Kevin, former juvenile delinquent and associate of Benjamin," He explained to his confused wife..

"Nice to meet you," Sheelane said.

"Mr. B, I need a place to hide," I explained.

"What do you mean? Who's after you?"

"The police. I blew up a hospital."

"What the deuce, young man!"

"I was angry, ok? Angry at Tennyson for killing my mum!"

"So you blew up a hospital?! What about all the innocent civilians inside?" Sheelane asked, shocked.

"What about them? They're equally as guilty for failing to save my mom," I said bitterly.

"Kevin E. Levin, I can't believe you would do such a heinous thing! No, I cannot harbor such a fugitive from the law. You have to go now and turn yourself in. May God bless all those poor souls you murdered," Mr. Baumann said.

"I won't go anywhere. You can't make me turn myself in!" I cried.

"Yes I can. Kevin, I am placing you under citizen's arrest for the massacre of innocent civilians."

"Oh yeah?" I sneered. "I just blew up a hospital without much of a second thought. What makes you think you can hold me up without me killing you first?"

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, Kevin. I order you to surrender to me this instant!"

"Did I ever tell you I suck at obeying orders? Especially when those orders are to do something I really don't want to do!" I yelled as I transformed into my ultimate form.

"Sheelane, get behind me now!" Mr. Baumann ordered, trying to protect her.

"What a noble gesture. However, it was quite foolish of you. You two mortals shall soon be gone, and all for simply disobeying me!"

"Do your worst, Kevin. I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be, for now I shall unleash my rage upon you two!" I screamed.

_Bweep bip bip Bweep!_ The sound of a dozen police car sirens echoed outside of Mr. Baumann's store.

"Kevin E. Levin, come out with your hands up! You are under arrest for mass murder."

"Hmm, looks like you won't have to arrest me after all. The police are here to do it themselves," I laughed.

"You're crazy, Kevin. It's like I don't even know you anymore," Mr. Baumann said.

"No, nobody knows me anymore. I took over Kevin after he let his rage fill his heart."

"So that's where he went. You consumed him!"

"He did that to himself. I cannot make decisions for him. I can merely guide him in the right direction. He ultimately chose this path himself."

"I'm not going to stand by idly while you destroy more innocent lives, Kevin."

"And quite frankly, I don't really care what you think. However, since I'm feeling rather generous, I think I'll let you two escape with your miserable lives while I go smash some police cars."

Mr. Baumann tried to respond, but panic took the best of him. Without a backwards glance, he grabbed his wife and hastily beat a retreat to the back of his convenience store where he slammed the door.

_Crash!_ The SWAT team arrived and began chucking tear-gas through the windows. Billowing green smoke poured into the room. However, I was not affected because I was not human.

"Kevin, surrender now while you still can!" The Police chief called.

"Alright, I give up. You've got me," I said as I came out of the building.

"All right, he's out. Snipers, take him out!"

_Oh crap! Ambush!_ I thought as I rolled to my left, the bullet striking where my head was just a moment ago.

"Playing dirty now, are we?"I asked sarcastically. "Well, two can play at this game!" I took out Ultimate Humungosaur's Gatling guns and started spraying the area with machine-gun fire. Everyone ran for cover behind the SWAT vehicles.

"You cowards!" I screamed as my bullets pinged uselessly off the thick armor plating. "You can't hide forever!"

"We're not hiding, not anymore," the police chief said confidently as he came out of hiding.

"What makes you so confident that you can defeat me?"I sneered.

"Well, if this doesn't work, nothing will. However, I think it'll do the job quite nicely."

"What's this rubbish you speak of? There is absolutely nothing that can penetrate my armor. I'm a tank!"

"Exactly why I have an anti-tank weapon right here! This baby was designed to blow up tanks." He climbed up and aimed the BGM-71 TOW mounted on the vehicle at Kevin.

"Any last words?"

"Yeah, this will never work!"

"We'll see about that! It can penetrate over 800 mm of RHA. Even your thick skin can't withstand a HEAT round." The chief fired the TOW missile at Kevin who didn't even budge. The missile hit Kevin and exploded. A large plume of black smoke appeared.

"Direct hit! He's a goner!"

"I think we did it! That's the end of our nightmare!"

"Hooray for the Bellwood Police Department!"

"I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate if I were you," I grunted.

"Levin?! But how? How did you survive?"

"I told you, my skin cannot be penetrated by conventional means. And since you've had your fun, it's time I had mine!"

"What the hell are you going to do to us?" The police chief asked.

"Burn baby, burn!" I cried as I shot flames out of my flamethrowers and incinerated everyone and everything in my path. A screaming officer ran by while on fire.

"Ahhhhhhh! It burns! It burns!" He screamed as the flames enveloped his body, slowly making its way up. The flames burned away his clothing before charring the skin black. He started to beat at the flames while dancing around in a circle. All of a sudden, he collapsed and died.

"Retreat!" The police chief yelled. All those still alive jumped into their SWAT cars and raced away.

"Next time, don't interfere with me and I won't bother you!" I yelled. Pretty soon, the streets are completely devoid of life, that is until a few minutes later.

Now that the only convenience store above-ground for two miles was destroyed, I had to go look for other places of sustenance. I was so engrossed in thoughts of what I'd do to Ben once I caught him, I almost failed to hear the gunship hovering overhead, coming in for a landing.

_Whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-thump!_

The forward propeller stopped turning and the entire craft pitched forwards. From inside the cockpit, I could hear the fury in the captain's voice.

"ATTEA! Why are we approaching at such a steep angle?! Have you lost your bloody mind?!" Milleous screamed.

"I don't know what happened! All I did was push this red button over here marked 'landing gear deployment' to deploy the landing gear. "

"You idiot! Red is never for general use!"

"So what did I do?"

You shut off power to the forward rotators!"

"Oh, is that all? That still means we've got the back ones, doesn't it?"

"SHUT UP AND RESTART THE ENGINES, DAMNIT!" Milleous roared.

"Where's the button to do that?" Attea asked sweetly.

"Never mind. Move it, I'm taking over!" The Incursean emperor unceremoniously dumped his daughter onto the floor and took command of the ship himself.

"Let's see. All I've got to do is to push that green button over there to restart the engines, and pull up on the flight control lever all the way. That should level out the craft."

"Need help, daddy?" Attea asked from the floor.

"No! You are more of a hindrance than a help. I should've put you in the stasis pod when I had the chance!"

:"Take that back!"

"Why you ungrateful-no-good-sorry excuse for a daughter…"

"I've had it! This craft is coming down!" Attea swore.

"You're bluffing! You wouldn't dare, not with yourself on it!"

"Let's find out, shall we?" She cried as she used her tongue to wreck the engine-restart, landing gear deployment, flight control stick, elevators, and ailerons.

"What the heck did you just do?" Milleous cried as he suddenly found himself at the helm of a now stricken vessel.

"Whoops,"Attea said softly. "Looks like I goofed up and destroyed all your flying control surfaces."

"Arrgh! We're going to die, you bastard!"

"Correction, only you are. I've got my escape pod ready to fire."

"No! I'll take you down with me!" Milleous vowed as he grabbed hold of Attea and refused to let go.

"Daddy, let go of me right now!" Attea whined.

"No! We die together!"

"Never!" She cried as she grabbed her trusty blaster and fried his fingers.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'll get you for that if it's the last thing I do!" The emperor screamed as he sucked on his blistered fingers.

"Looks like you've got an aircraft to save," Attea snickered, and for once she was right. The situation aboard the Incursean gunship was now critical. The ship's GPWS began to squawk.

"BANK ANGLE! INCREASE CLIMB!" A mechanical frog's voice implored Milleous to take drastic measures to save his ship from imminent danger.

"That's what I'm trying to do, but I have no control of this bloody ship!" He roared in frustration.

"I can help, you know," Attea offered.

"You! Get out of my sight now!"

"You can raise the nose of the gunship by increasing thrust."

"Yeah? I've got no control stick to do that since you destroyed it!"

"I meant to the back engine. Virtually all aircraft are designed to fly with an engine out of commission."

"That's only for those human jumbo jets with four engines. We've only got two."

"Ok the. We're royally screwed."

"SINK RATE...PULLS UP! PULL UP! PULL UP!" The frog voice persisted.

Suddenly, all the lights flashed green again.

"Oh goody, power's back! Looks like you didn't totally destroy everything," Milleous commented as he increased thrust to full power and leveled off the gunship. Parachutes deployed and brought the craft down for a safe yet bumpy landing. Emperor Milleous kicked Attea off the ship before disembarking himself. He immediately came over to me.

Kevin E. Levin. Fancy seeing you around here."

"Milleous," I said, my lips curling. "I hope you had a pleasant flight? Judging from that landing, it was almost your last."

"Nonsense. We just had, uhmm, an in flight emergency."

"Involving a rebellious daughter destroying the flight controls?" I asked with a smile.

"How-ho-how'd you know?" Milleous sputtered.

"Just a wild guess. Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"I propose an alliance between the forces of the Incursean Empire and the ex-con turned part of Benjamin Tennyson's team, Kevin E. Levin," Attea said.

"Silence! Not another word out of you!" Her dad ordered. "Um, yeah, what my daughter just said."

"And why would I join this alliance? I mean, I would, but what's in it for me?" I asked.

"Anything you want, I can provide. After all, I am the leader of the mighty Incursean Empire, haha!" Milleous chortled.

"Doesn't mean anything to me. We've beaten you a dozen times already."

"This time, it's different. I've occupied this planet for over a year already, and where's Ben Tennyson to stop me, huh?"

"Hmmm, you do make a good point."

"So, all you have to do is tell us where Ben is, and we'll eliminate him, killing two birds with one stone in the process. I need to get rid of Earth's hero, and you need revenge, or so I am told," Milleous continued.

"How'd you know that?" I asked, turning red.

"You are mad because you believe Tennyson killed you mom, yes? A little birdie told me so."

"All right, but what other gifts are you going to provide besides Tennyson's dead body?"

"Well, I hear your car needs a serious upgrade, so I ordered you a new one."

_Ordered? Then it dawned on me._

"You planned this all along, didn't you? You knew I would join your cause so you brought me a car in advance!"

"Not only that, but I also rigged your house with explosives and gasoline to make the explosion bigger."

"You murderer! You killed my mom!" I screamed as I launched myself at him, my body already fully encased in metal. Surprisingly, he let me do so. I socked him in the mouth with a metal fist and smashed his head in with a hammer. Milleous took all of this in silence.

"Fight back!" I screamed as I continued to bash his head in. "Fight back, you coward!" Milleous grabbed me while I was preparing to strike again.

"No, you're wrong," he said quietly. This was so shocking that I stopped trying to kill him.

"How are you still able to talk?" I asked, amazed.

"We Incurseans are born with certain elastic properties, so to speak. We will always return to our original shape after being under stress."

"Well, I guess I'll have to try harder then," I growled as I prepared to sic him.

"You can't, haha. My elastic limit is too high!"

"Well, screw Hooke's law then. I'm going to kill you regardless of what the laws of Physics tell me!"

"Calm down. I didn't kill you mom directly. It was Tennyson after all who ignited the spark that set off the explosion that killed your mother."

"I don't buy this cock and bull story, you lying piece of shit!" I screamed in his ear.

"Perhaps you can be convinced through other means then. I can get you a new girlfriend. You want that, don't you?"

"Enough about a replacement for Gwen! I only care about killing you right now!"

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't wake the dead, man."

"Enough of this nonsense! Attea, stun him now!"

"With pleasure," she said as she stepped forward and cocked the blaster.

"No! I will enact my revenge upon thee! Perhaps you may not be able to be deformed, but I can still kill you through decapitation! Say goodbye to your head!" I cried as I transformed by arm into a cleaver and prepared to chop off his head. For the first time, I could sense the fear in Milleous' eyes.

"Attea, hurry!" He pleaded. She seemed to be toying with her father though.

"Oww! That was my arm!" He cried as his whole right arm went numb.

"Sorry! Levin isn't giving me a clear shot."

"How could you miss?! He's practically on top of me! Just shoot!"

Attea shot Kevin in the head just as the lad was about to cut the emperor's head off.

"Oh boy, that's going to leave a mark," I muttered as the world swam in and out of focus. My eyelids began to droop downwards._ No! Must stay awake to finish mission! Must cut off the head of Milleous!_ I moved my arm closer to his throat._ That's it, just a couple centimeters up!_ Suddenly my whole body felt like it was made out of lead. My arm dropped._ No! Just a few more seconds!_

"Time for you to…" I managed before I closed my eyes to the world. The last thing I remember before drifting off was Milleous smiling at me.

"Time for you to go to sleep," he said as he closed my eyelids. The world turned black.

* * *

_One hour later on Milleous' newly fixed gunship_

"Owww! My freakin head!" I groaned as I came around. My whole body ached as well.

"Daddy, he's awake!" Attea said. Milleous came over.

"How are you feeling, Levin? Anything I can get you? Apple juice, grape juice? An all you can eat buffet?" He smirked. I wanted to pound him, pulverize him, grind him up into little pieces, reassemble him, and then destroy him again. I recalled that famous line from_ The Princess Bride_ and I wanted to say it to his face and laugh before I killed him._ Hello, my name is Kevin E. Levin. You killed my mother. Prepare to die!_ But for whatever reason, my lips betrayed me.

"No, I only want revenge!" I said.

"Against who?" He asked.

"The accursed Benjamin Tennyson, murderer of my mother!"

"Excellent! We're currently on our way to meet some other allies. Lunch is ready in the dining compartment. I hear you love all-you-can-eat buffets, do you not?"

"Man, you seriously know how to please a man," I yelled as I skipped my way to the dining compartment.

* * *

_Milleous POV_

"Excellent! The indoctrination process was a complete success!" I told Attea.

"What did you do to him?"

"It was elementary, my dear. Just keep repeating what you want them to believe and eventually they'll be believing it."

"It's that simple?"

"Well, combined with a series of mild electric shocks, it has been proven effective, yes."

"So now Levin believes that Ben's killed his mother and he'll get revenge by teaming up with us?"

"I believe so."

Kevin came back.

"Ahh, Levin. Back so soon?"

"I got bored of the food. You only have ten choices and you call this a buffet?!"

"I'm very sorry for the disappointment. I'll make sure the proper punishment is administered where applicable. Keep an eye on the window over there," I said, pointing to the starboard bay window. "You'll be pleasantly surprised, I think." I left the room. A few minutes later, the head chef fell out of the craft to his death thousands of feet below. I re-entered the room.

"So, now you know what happens to those who disobey me," I said as I dusted off my hands.

"Hmm, seems rather harsh, doesn't it?" Levin asked.

"Nonsense! The same punishment goes for anyone out of order in my army."

"What, throwing people out of a moving aircraft?"

"No, death by whatever is most convenient; In this case, it happened to be death by throwing out of moving vehicle. Like I said, this punishment isn't harsh since it is uniformly applied. I could technically be put to death by Attea here, but then again, I haven't done anything illegal, have I?"

"Man, no offense, but you're a total nutcase," Levin said.

"You want to meet the same fate as head chef number 45?" I threatened as I dangled Levin by his fingertips.

"Daddy, wait! He's useful to us!" My precious daughter said.

"Looks like someone cares about you, Levin." I released him.

"I don't care for him," Attea yelled as she blushed beet red. "I have my Bullfrag!"

"Kevin, how would you like Attea to be your new girlfriend?"

"If she wants to, sure. Why not?"

"I do not want him! I want **Bullfrag**!" She screamed.

"You are seriously testing my patience here. Careful you don't cross the line."

"Never! I will never, ever be caught outside with such an abomination as him under any circumstances, you hear?!"

"You will obey me this instant or I will throw you out as well!" I yelled back.

"Oh yeah? You're so fat I bet you can't pick me up!"

"Why you little…"

"Relax, I'm just joking. Sure I'll be Levin's girlfriend, at least for the moment."

"Where're we headed anyways?" Levin asked.

"We need someone who can open portals to other dimensions. Any help?"

"Blukric and Driba back at the plumber base."

"Thank you. It's time we headed that way."

* * *

_Old Plumber HQ-third person_

"Remember now. You are not to harm them. Just bring them here alive. Understand?" Milleous said.

"Yes, sir," his frog foot soldiers croaked. They hurried off into the base to find the two Galvan.

"Useless soldiers," Milleous grumbled after they were out of earshot, "They are kinda like the B1 battle droids from Star Wars."

"Useless, but oh so much better than doing stuff on your own," Kevin said.

"True, true."

* * *

_Inside the HQ_

"Man, I really want a grasshopper smoothie right about now, Driba," Blukric complained.

"The magister said that we two are in charge of this base while the rest of the plumbers are out dealing with the Incurseans. That means no smoothie breaks!" Driba replied.

"But it's oh so boring! Why are we stuck here while the rest of them are out having all the fun?"

"Is it because they finally realized how incompetent we are so they assigned us desk jobs?"

"Dang it, Driba! You're always stealing my thunder! I'm supposed to be the one to point out our flaws!"

"No, I am as I have the more conscientious brain!"

"You? Don't make me laugh! You failed the exam needed to become a plumber!"

"Might I remind you, so did you!" Driba retorted.

"Oh yeah? Take that! And that!" Blukric began to punch Driba with his puny fists.

"Ha! Blukric, you punch like a girl! I'll show you how to give someone a knuckle sandwich." Driba stuck his entire fist in Blukric's mouth. Blukric took advantage of that fact and chomped down, eliciting a cry of pain from the mouth of Driba.

"Owwwwww! Bite me will you?! Have some of that! And that!" The two Galvan began to pummel each other.

"Warning! Warning! Possibly hostile forces approaching this base!" A computerized voice said.

"Driba, shut the doors." Blukric said. Driba started for the red button on the right.

"No, Driba, you've got it all wrong! It's the green one right next to the red one."

"Quit fooling around Blukric. I can read the labels, and the label clearly says, 'press red button to close all the doors'."

"That's so any enemy who managed to get inside would open the doors instead of closing them when he pressed the red button. It's reverse psychology."

"Common sense would tell you, if you had a brain, which you do not, that read means ' stop' and green means 'go'. Same principle applies here." Driba pressed on the red button. The doors opened half way.

"Driba, you idiot! I told you it was the green one."

"Come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!"

"Ok the, push the green one if you think you're so smart!" Blukric pushed the green one and the doors opened all the way.

"Now who's the idiot?" Driba asked sarcastically as the Incursean forces rushed in and grabbed both of them.

"We both are," Blukric moaned.

"Come on! We're taking you to the Emperor," the commander of the soldiers said.

"Milleous?"

"Lord Emperor Milleous," the commander corrected.

Milleous was growing quite impatient with his soldiers.

"Those numbskulls! Can't do anything right!" I muttered.

"Numbskull is here and happy to present to you Blukric and Driba, safe and unharmed as you requested, sir."

"Excellent! You all may leave." The soldiers boarded their landing craft and hovered in midair waiting for their emperor to depart, all except one that is.

"Blukric, Driba, I've heard plenty about you two. Building fine devices to help you plumber buddies."

"Well, we aren't helping you!" Driba managed.

"Really? And why not?"

"No sir. I have to agree with Driba on this one, and we hardly ever agree on anything. We shall absolutely, positively, certainly, beyond a shadow of a doubt, definitely refuse to help you in your quest to take over the world!"

"I have no quarrel with the world. I only seek to destroy Ben Tennyson."

"Still not helping you," the Galvan cried.

"What if I said I said I had access to devices that could possible cause you two a great deal of pain?" Milleous asked.

"And believe me, he does actually have these devices," Attea said with a giggle.

"Ok, when you put it that way, I'm going to adjust my previous statement to, most definitely yes!" Blukric said.

"What is it you need help with, your highness?" Driba asked.

"I need a trans-dimensional portal able to skip through dimensions."

"Ahh, like a teleporter, but only bigger and more powerful!"

"Exactly! If you help me, I'll get you two all the grasshopper smoothies you could ever want!"

"Done deal!" Blukric said.

"Blukric, do you realize what we're about to do? We're committing treason by knowingly and openingly providing aid and comfort to the enemy!" Driba said.

"Well, I'm not about to get my hide split open over not helping them. My first philosophy is, always help those who are stronger and seem more of a threat to you."

"What an excellent maxim to have, Blukric! I wish all of my enemies had your common sense," Milleous said.

"Why thank you for that- ow! Driba, what was that for?"

"He's making fun of us cuz we're buffoons!"

"Quit yappin and get me the particle transporter, Driba! Do as the man tells you!" Blukric ordered. Driba came back lugging the transporter.

"This is it?" Milleous asked. "That's the particle transporter?! It's so small!"

"We couldn't build anything bigger since we'd have no way to drag it around," Driba said.

"One person at a time. No carry on items. That's the limit," Blukric added.

"And we are still fine-tuning it. It's kind of unpredictable, you know?"

"Hmm, who should the first test subject be?" Milleous asked with a smile. "Should it be you or you or you?" He asked, looking at Kevin, Attea, and Driba in turn.

"I volunteer in the name of science," a soldier said.

"I wasn't even considering you, but sure! Be my guest!" The soldier stepped onto the machine, Blukric pressed an orange button, the machine groaned, and the soldier disappeared.

"Was it a success?" Milleous asked.

"I'm not really sure. The machine either a) doesn't do anything with a 50% probability, b) goes to where you want to go with a 25% probability, or c) transports you to a random location. Judging by the facts provided here, I'd say either b or c, but leaning towards b," Blukric said.

"I guess we'll never find out, huh?" Attea asked.

"I have a feeling I know where the soldier was sent…" Kevin snickered. "You don't want to know."

* * *

_Mount Everest _

The soldier fell from the portal and landed on the snowy mountain.

"Oh boy, where am I?" He wondered aloud. He began to climb up the mountain. His hands scraped against something flesh-like. It was a human leg, perfectly preserved. Beside the body was a small memorial carved into the rock.

_George Mallory_

_18 June 1886- 8 June 1924_

_Died while trying to reach the summit of Mt. Everest._

"Great! This is the Himalayas we're talking about! How'd I get here?"

Right beside the memorial was another sign.

_Warning_

_You are at the "Death Zone". Only use your oxygen tanks beyond this point._

_DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHOUT OXYGEN_

"Where am I supposed to find myself an oxygen tank?"*yawn*

"I feel so tired. I think I'll go to sleep and wake up in a few hours."

The soldier closed his eyes. The cells in his body slowly died due to lack of oxygen. He never woke up again.

* * *

_Back outside HQ_

"So, we have no idea if the soldier made it or not?" Milleous asked.

"Absolutely, positively, not a clue," both Galvan replied.

"You two have failed me for the first and final time. And you do know what happens to failures, don't you?"

"N-N-No. What happens?" Both asked fearfully.

"You will be executed by whatever means is most convenient. And in this case, it's teleporting you two using your own machine until it actually sends you somewhere! I only hope it sends you to wherever that soldier went."

"Daddy isn't that a bit dangerous. I mean, there is a 25% chance of sending them exactly where they want to go," Attea commented.

"Life is a game of chance, my dear," Milleous said philosophically. "I'm bound to get what I want sometime."

"That's Gambler's fallacy right there," Kevin pointed out.

"Screw your opinion, Levin. I didn't ask you!"

"Just saying, just because you've had bad luck over and over again, doesn't mean you're bound to get lucky this time around."

"Well screw your statistics class! The sooner I get these two out of here, the sooner I can go find Eon!"

"No! You just told them our plan!" Attea screamed.

"Shut-up! I'm doing this my way!"

Milleous tied the two Galvan to the transporter and pushed the button.

"Oh how I wish it didn't have to end this way. You two are a hilarious bunch, you really are. But all good things must come to an end."

The machine whirled and shook.

Milleous started to sing.

And now, the end is here

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full

I traveled each and ev'ry highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

The machine stopped turning, but the two Galvan were still here.

"D'oh!" Milleous exclaimed. "I'll have you this time!" He started the machine again.

Regrets, I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

And the two Galvan were still there.

"D'oh!"

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

Somehow the Galvan were still there.

"This isn't possible! The odds are not in your favor! (.50)^3 is .125 or a 12.5% chance! I have a 87.5% chance of succeeding!"

"Yo man, that's only _**in the long run**_," Driba said.

"Still defiant? What makes you so sure I won't succeed?"

"We believe in the laws of statistics. And math always triumphs over brute force!"

"Not this time it won't! I'll have you yet!"

I've loved, I've laughed and cried

I've had my fill, my share of losing

And now as tears subside

I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that

And may I say not in a shy way

Oh no, oh no, not me

I did it my way

Blukric and Driba finally disappeared.

"Yes! I did it! I finally did it! I've succeeded in sending those annoying tadpoles to their doom!"

"Either that or you sent them to Ben. No one actually knows, so we can only hope for the best," Kevin said.

"I find your lack of faith in my destructive abilities disturbing."

"So, onwards to Eon," Milleous growled.

Eon however, wasn't as pleased to see Milleous as Milleous was pleased to see him.

"Milleous, what a pleasant surprise. Still out trying to conquer the known universe for the umpteenth time? Gee, I wonder why you haven't succeeded," Eon sneered.

"Make that n+1 times. And it's Lord Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of galaxies, keeper of the conquest ray, all beings tremble-"

*yawn* "Must your title be so long? I'm getting really bored right now, so if you'd be as kind as to state your business or leave now, it would be much appreciated. I do have to plot how to get my revenge on Tennyson. It's quite tedious how he always manages to make piecemeal of my most fool-proof plans!"

"Tennyson? The Ben Tennyson, wielder of the Omnitrix?" Attea asked.

"Do we know any other Ben Tennysons? That's the whole point of this show isn't it? It's all about Ben, Ben, Ben!" Eon cried.

"You shall not break the fourth-wall in my presence, time-traveler!" Milleous screamed.

"Any way you could stop shouting? My eardrums can't cope with more than 85 dB," Eon complained.

"I'm a leader! I have to shout at my people every day!" Milleous bellowed.

"Out! Out!" Eon cried. Two guards grabbed Milleous and threw him out of the room before locking the door.

"Much better," Eon sighed in relief. "You were saying?"

"We seem to have a common goal in mind. We both want Tennyson out of the equation. However, we know that Tennyson's not in this dimension anymore. We need you to take us to the _Frozen_ universe for a surprise attack," Attea explained.

"As long as you don't double cross me like Vilgax did, I'm on! Destroying that inferior copy of me has been my life's dream."

"I cannot allow you to do that, Eon," Paradox said, appearing out of thin air.

"Paradox! How'd you get in here?"

"You ought to know that by now, Eon. I am you and you are me. We both can jump through dimensions, as I have just done."

"Well, I am the superior you, or is it me?! And you can't stop me!"

"Oh I'm not going to, not this time."

"Hold on, you're just going to give up?" Eon gloated.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I won't have to do much. You opening a portal to another dimension will have devastating effects on the space-time continuum."

"In case you haven't learned, I don't care what happens as long as I get rid of Ben!"

"Why are we standing here listening to Eon argue with Paradox? Get him!" Attea cried. Kevin tackled Eon because he thought Attea meant to get Eon. Attea shot at Paradox, but Paradox disappeared.

"Get off of me, human!" Eon growled as he ripped Kevin off of himself.

"Sorry. I couldn't tell the two of you apart."

"So, we're all set? Eon, you're on board with this alliance?"

"Just signal me when you guys are ready. I'll be there."

Attea and Kevin left to go collect Milleous.

"So Eon agreed?"

"Yup! So we can go kick Tennyson now?"

"No, I have one last secret weapon to harness."

"What is it?" Kevin asked curiously.

"It's not an object, it's a person.

"And who is this person?"

"The new Forever King Hans, or as you may know him, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

"Hold on, Prince Hans is actually a Forever Knight?"

"How else do you explain his elusive history, and the fact that he's so good in combat?"

"I don't know. He's got mad skills?"

"Disney's been lying to you and you've fallen for it. Until now! The only possible explanation for Hans being so mysterious and having such finesse in combat is that he is secretly a Forever Knight, and not only a Forever Knight, actually a Forever King."

"Hold on, I thought Chadwick was the last Forever King."

"Our sources indicate that Hans killed Chadwick after he failed to bring back Excalibur," Attea said. "Hans then took the throne from Chadwick and installed himself as leader of the Forever Knights."

"Yeah? Even if what you said is true, the Forever Knights are a joke now. They've been a joke ever since we defeated the Daigon."

"Not anymore. Hans has been busy reforming the organization from the bottom up, and now it is more formidable than ever. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself!"

* * *

_Forever Knight Castle_

_Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!_

"Dragon approaching, approximately one mile from here!" A soldier cried.

"Find those anti-tank cannons we've been storing and alert the king," the commander said calmly.

"Yes sir!" The soldier ran to go alert the king to the danger.

A legion of soldiers went down to find the batteries needed to combat the beast. They brought up an assortment of anti-tank weapons and multiple rocket launchers.

"Alright men. We've got to stall this beast for as long as possible." The soldiers loaded their weapons.

"Fire!"

The Pak 36 opened fire. The dragon caught the shell and flung it back destroying the gun and blowing a gaping hole in the wall.

"Rats! We've got to try something bigger!" The commander cursed. "Fire the Pak 43!"

_This should do it. We can get over 200 mm of armor penetration at a range of over 2 km._

When the gun fired, the recoil blew yet another hole in the wall. The shell hit the dragon, exploded, and sent shrapnel deep into the skin. The wounded dragon cried out in pain and breathed some fire that melted a quarter of the wall, sending half the soldiers plummeting to their deaths.

"That's it! Fire the Katyushsas!"

Forty-eight rockets launched with a terrible droning sound towards the dragon. However, this dragon was magical and put up a force field to deflect the attack.

"What in tarnation!" The commander cried as he witnessed his own rockets flying back towards him.

"Sir, you might want to duck," his soldiers advised him.

"Have no fear for King Hans is here!" Hans cried as he hurried up to the wall wielding Excalibur.

"My King, you've arrived a bit too late, I'm afraid. We're all about to perish at the hands of a berserk dragon!"

"Nonsense! I wield Excalibur, a weapon like no other!"

"No offense, sire, but how do you expect to beat a dragon with a puny sword?"

"Watch and learn."

Hans stood directly in front of the rockets that were heading towards him.

"What are you doing, sire! Have you lost your mind?!"

"No, I am merely saving all of our lives." Hans said calmly.

As the rockets reached him, Hans breathed deeply and thought of what his master had taught him all those years before. _Inner peace, inner peace_

Hans closed his eyes and swung Excalibur- first to the right, then to the left. The first rocket split in two without exploding. The warhead fell at his feet. For the second one, he held the sword in front of him and let the rocket split itself apart as it came at him. Over and over, Han repeated these actions, weaving his sword left, right, to the front, up, and down in beautiful, graceful arcs, cutting every last rocket to smithereens.

"?" The dragon was now scared. It had never seen such an impressive display of swordsmanship in its life. Even now, it turned to flee.

"Not so fast you horrible beast! I say come back here and fight!" The dragon ignored him a continued to gain altitude.

"You shall never be out of range of Excalibur!" Hans swore, and with superhuman strength, he flung the sword at the dragon. At that precise moment, the dragon turned back to mock Hans for his failure to kill it, and that's when the blade struck home, lodging in the heart of the great beast. The mortally wounded dragon fell back to earth with an almighty crash.

"And now for the coup de grâce," Hans cried. The sword moved of its own accord and cut off the dragon's head, ending its suffering.

"Now Excalibur, return to me!"

The sword flew back into Hans' hand from a distance of two kilometers, and he sheathed it.

"That was amazing, my lord! Who gave you that training?"

"I'm not at liberty to say. Let's just say I know someone who knows someone with awesome skills."

"Urgent message from one Lord Emperor Milleous of the Incursean Empire for you, sire" A soldier said, thrusting a letter into Hans' hands.

_To the Forever King Hans,_

_ We've never met before, I think, but I have heard of you, and you have no doubt heard about me too. I am Lord Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of galaxies, keeper of the conquest ray, yada, yada. I wish to congratulate you on your recent accession to the throne as the new Forever King. I'm sure that we can get along quite splendidly if we can agree on one common goal. I know you hate Benjamin Kirby Tennyson or you wouldn't be part of the Forever Knights. I hate this punk too, so I propose we form an alliance to wipe Tennyson out...permanently. Other members include Eon, and ex-Ben's team member Kevin E. Levin (Don't worry, I brainwashed him so he's on our side). If you're interested, just wave your hands and we'll come to pick you up!_

_Hoping you will join,_

(Crest of the Incursean Empire)

_Lord Emperor Milleous_

_P.S: I intercepted your recent letter to Disney regarding your role in their upcoming movie __**Frozen**__. I'm pleased to announce that they've accepted you to play yourself in the movie!_

_Oh boy, I'll look like a complete idiot in front of everybody!_ Hans thought before he started to wave his hands frantically in the air.

"Sir, can I get you anything? You look like you're in distress," The commander looked concerned. "Fetch the lord a glass of water!"

"Aye!" A soldier hurried away to get some water for the king.

"What? No, I'm fine. I just need to leave for a little while."

"Why, my lord?"

"Oh, just some business involving Ben Tennyson. Don't kill each other while I'm gone, will you?"

"Yes, your highness."

* * *

_On board Milleous' flagship_

"Wow! That was some incredible skill man," Kevin exclaimed.

"Now you know I wasn't lying when I told you about Hans," Milleous said triumphantly.

"Daddy, I think Hans is waving at us."

"Is he now?" To the pilot he said, "Go in to pick him up."

"Sir, near the wall?"

"Yes, near the wall! Now go!"

"There is no wall."

"You know what I mean!"

The pilot hovered near the wall.

* * *

_On the Castle Wall_

"Hostile aircraft hmm? Open fire!" The commander screamed.

The soldiers started blasting Milleous' ship with their laser lances.

* * *

_On board Milleous' ship_

_Ping! Ping! Ping! _

"Sir, we're under fire by hostiles! Shall we engage?" The pilot asked.

"No. Hail them over a loudspeaker."

"Attention hostile forces! This is Lord Emperor Milleous' flagship. Keep firing and you will be faced with the wrath of the awesome Incursean Armada!"

"Oh you're hopeless," Milleous said, elbowing the pilot aside and taking control of the mike.

"Hello, is there a Forever King Hans around here? I, Lord Emperor Milleous would like to talk to you."

"It is I, King Hans," a tall and rather handsome guy spoke up.

"Well, come on in. The tea's getting cold."

Hans climbed into the ship and the ship flew away.

"I'm glad we could finally meet in person, Hans. Sugar?"

"No thanks. I don't normally drink tea. And it is a great pleasure to meet you too."

"So I hear you want to join our little alliance?"

"Only for the purpose of destroying Ben Tennyson. You see, the Knights have a policy of not cooperating with, how can I put this delicately? Ah yes, alien scum."

"What did you just say?" Milleous said threateningly.

"You sir are alien scum, though you are not as bad as some of the others."

"Well you're a human. Therefore you are earthling scum according to me."

"Whatever. We call you some offensive name; you retaliate by calling us an offensive name. This endless bickering gets us nowhere, agreed?"

"Aye. But it is fun to think about."

"You will find, however, that I am pragmatic, willing to compromise on certain issues. That is why I am joining this alliance. Moving on, is there some kind of treaty I'm supposed to sign, or is this only through oral communication?"

"Ahh yes. Here you go. Sign your name under Eon's and above Kevin's."

Milleous handed Hans the treaty which Hans signed.

"Excellent! Now we're all set!"

"Hello Milleous" Eon said, suddenly warping into the ship.

"You could have given us some notice you know."

"Yeah, well you were kind of rude, so I thought it would be nice to return the favor."

"This is Eon, the time walker?" Hans asked.

"The evil time walker," Eon snapped. "I do not wish to be associated with the goody-goody Paradox."

"And this is my daughter Attea. Say hi to everyone, Attea."

"Yo. What's up?"

"And finally we have Kevin E. Levin."

"Hey peoples. How you doin?"

"Funny. Last time I recall, we were on opposite sides," Hans noted.

"Yup. That was before all this craziness happened."

"So, what do you say we have a toast?"

"We ain't got no wine, daddy. You drank it all."

"I did? Whatever. Death to Tennyson!"

"Death to Tennyson!"

"Motion to rename this team?" Kevin asked.

"Motion granted."

"Let's call this team, the Nemesis Four"

"An excellent choice," all the villains said.

"Onward to Ben Tennyson's future graveyard!" Milleous cried.

* * *

_Meanwhile back at the Kingdom of Arendelle…_

"Driba, where are we?"

"The land of _Frozen_ I believe."

"We have to warn Ben!"

"Right! Do you know where his bedroom is?"

"No idea, not a clue, nada."

Ben just happened to walk out of his room.

"Ben! Down here! We've got some urgent news!"

"Blukric? Driba? What are you guys doing out here?" Ben asked.

"We were sent here as a result of our fail, I mean successful, particle transporter. You see, we were captured by Milleous and he wanted us to find a way into this universe so he could kill you."

"Only, our machine kept failing, so he finally got mad at us and strapped us into our own machine."

"And that's how we got sent here after around five tries," Driba finished.

"Ben, Milleous is in the process of assembling a dream team to take you down."

"Actually, he's just finished the dream team. They're on their way right now," Paradox said."

"Oh great. More bad news," Ben groaned.

"That's not all, Ben. Kevin's with them this time."

* * *

So, how'd you like this latest chapter? R&amp;R please!


	16. A Nightmare Cruise

A Nightmare Vacation

A/N: Kevin has joined the Incursean side! What will our heroes do next?

**Warning: Death by drowning, hypothermia, neck-breaking, intestine ripping, shooting, explosions, and getting crushed by having a funnel fall on you.**

**Contains: Graphic violence, inhumane acts, lots of character jumps, the entire back half of **_**Titanic**_**, lots and lots of cursing (in multiple languages), the Italian Coast Guard, underage drinking, rich people eating, karaoke, indecent exposure, sex, lots of blushing, a Jack Dawson that doesn't die, faulty shipbuilding, awkwardness, spoilers, brief reference to Nazism, lying, and Biblical passages among other things.**

**Note: I do not own the rights to Titanic or Les Miserables. They are products of Paramount and Universal respectively.**

**Guest Starring: The entire estate of Downton Abbey as Titanic characters, and Captain Jack Sparrow.**

* * *

"What?! Did I hear that correctly?" Gwen gasped.

"I think so, Gwendolyn. I'm afraid the rumors are true. Kevin's working against us."

"But why? I thought we got rid of his evil side!"

"Apparently there was still enough of Ultimate Kevin left inside of the good Kevin to take control of him," Ben explained calmly.

"So Milleous sweet-talked Kevin into working for him?! Is that why Kevin turned- turned-turned-" Gwen stuttered.

"Traitor so easily?" Ben suggested. "Perhaps. We all know Kevin is the easiest of the three of us to manipulate. Just promise him money, material possessions, or women, and he'll follow you like a dog. If you don't believe me, look how easily Charmcaster enticed Kevin into betraying you!"

"I still can't believe Kevin would do something like this," Gwen said.

"Well he has, and we have an obligation to stop him," Ben said resolutely.

"I hate it when you're right," Gwen said crossly. "Any ideas about what to do?"

"I've arranged that for you already," Paradox said with a smile.

"Without consulting us first?!" Ben cried, outraged.

"Ben, calm down. How many times do I have to tell you to control your temper when things don't go your way?" Gwen sighed.

"Never. You're always telling Kevin he needs to take anger-management classes, but never me," Ben said with a smile.

"Good point."

"I think you'll be quite pleased to know where I'm sending you. How's a two week vacation sound?" Paradox asked.

"Cool! Where're we going? Back to the good ol' US of A?" Ben could hardly contain his excitement.

"No, it will be a cruise around continental Europe."

"A cruise?! Awesome! I get to live like a king!" Ben yelled elated. Then it dawned on him.

"Hold on just a minute...What's the-"

"I'm sure there's a negative aspect to this vacation, isn't that so, Paradox?" Gwen asked.

"Damn it! Stop stealing my thunder!" Ben cursed.

"Sorry you couldn't form the words fast enough, " Gwen shot back sarcastically.

"Negative aspect? Oh, no. It's just an innocent cruise, that's all. Nothing to worry about!" Paradox said cheerfully.

"I smell something fishy around here," Ben muttered.

"Yeah, like you aren't telling us something," Gwen added.

"Oh would you look at the time!" Paradox exclaimed, checking his wristwatch.

"Stop dodging the question and answer it already!" Ben exclaimed.

"No really, I've got to go," Paradox replied.

"Hold on! You can't leave us hanging here!" Gwen cried.

"You're smart, you figure it out, Gwendolyn! Enjoy the trip,_ while you can_!"

Without a backwards glance, Paradox opened a blue portal in the middle of the hallway, stepped in, and disappeared.

"Come back you- you- you- good-for-nothing second rate professor!" Ben screamed.

"Let him go, Ben. We'll have to figure out his secret on our own."

"Hmm, enjoy the trip while we can… That means something bad's going to happen to us?"

"Something bad I hear? I do hope not!" The King said, coming around the corner.

"Oh, it's the King and Queen!" Ben exclaimed.

"Surprised to see us?" the Queen asked.

"We're getting quite bored of the palace to be honest. I for one would like to go on vacation," Ben announced.

"What a coincidence! How about we take you two on a cruise of Europe? I know you two must long for a vacation after what we've put you through, taking care of Elsa and Anna."

"A vacation?! Really?! You'd do that for us?" Ben and Gwen tried to act surprised.

"I knew you two would be excited! The ship we'll be going on is the largest cruise ship in the world at 1,500 feet. As you might have guessed, it is owned by the only cruise line based in a Scandinavian country."

"Norwegian?"

"She's called the _Hope_."

"Is that supposed to evoke some strong sense of symbolism in me, because if it is, I don't feel it," Ben laughed. The king and queen both chuckled, and even Gwen cracked a smile.

"Alright you two. Go and get ready. We'll be leaving here shortly," the king said. Both Ben and Gwen left to go pack.

* * *

"It's our first trip without Grandpa Max, you excited?" Ben asked his cousin as they climbed the stairs.

"I'm just grateful that we'll be eating actual food for a change and not the grub he wants us to believe is food."

"That's true. I could never forget the time he tried to surve us mealworms. Remember? It was the summer when we were ten."

"Of course I do! It was the first road-trip we ever took together."

"Ahh, good times."

"Good times indeed!"

"See you in a bit," Ben said as they entered their respective rooms to pack. Five minutes later, Ben was already done.

"Gwen, are you done yet?" Ben asked as he politely knocked on her door.

"No, don't come in. I'm changing at the moment. And how'd you pack so quickly?"

"I used Fasttrack."

"Just give me a moment. You probably forgot something."

"No I didn't."

"You probably did. You forget stuff even when you're normal. How can I trust you not to forget anything when you take advantage of Fasttrack's speed?/"

"Don't worry about it."

"I must insist. It's probably something critical." Gwen came out of her room. Ben's jaw dropped. She was wearing a periwinkle satin dress, and had styled her hair in a way that made it seem more fiery. Ben continued to gape at her.

_Click...click…_

Gwen lightly tapped her heels on the floor to get her cousin's attention.

"Ben, don't just stand there drooling like an idiot! How do I look?"

"Huh? Oh! Words cannot even begin to describe how beautiful you are, Gwen."

"You really think so?"

"Trust me. That's coming from your cousin, the same one who referred to you as a doofus eight years ago. However, times have changed, and you've grown more beautiful with every passing year," Ben said honestly. Gwen blushed as red as a tomato.

"Don't get any ideas, Ben," She said teasingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ben demanded.

"Whatever you want it to mean, dear. Now let's go check if you've missed anything."

Ben reluctantly let her shift through his luggage.

"Ah ha! Like I suspected, you forgot to pack something!"

"What was that something?"

"You pervert! You probably want to walk around the ship butt-naked just to make me feel uncomfortable."

"What?! I would never-"

"Then how do you explain the fact that you didn't pack any underwear?"

"Oops, I did?"

"Grr…"

_Smack! Except that it wasn't._

Ben grabbed her arm before she could slap him and forced her to lower it.

"A very unladylike thing to do, agreed?" He asked coolly.

"How did you know?"

"Years of saving the universe. Nothing surprises me anymore. And yeah, I'll go pack my underwear."

"No need. I've got it covered."_ Accio Ben's underwear!_

Ben's underwear flew out of his drawers and into his suitcase neatly stacked.

"Wow! You're getting fairly good at using magic."

"Please, don't flatter me. It's nothing."

"Ben, Gwen! You guys ready to go?" the king called.

"We're coming!" Ben hollered back. "Come on, we shan't keep them waiting."

_Locomotor trunks! _

Their suitcases hovering in front of them, Ben and Gwen walked out of Ben's room.

_Creeeeeeak_

"Quick Gwen, drop the luggage!" Ben whispered.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

The suitcases accelerated towards the floor and their total weight now doubled, crushed Ben's feet.

"Ben? Gwen? Anything wrong?" Anna exclaimed as she hurried out of her room to see the fuss.

"Ben! Are you alright?!" Both Gwen and Anna squealed.

"Oww, that really hurts," Ben grimaced.

"Are you sure you don't want to get that checked out?" Gwen asked, full of concern.

"No, it's nothing."

"Here, I'll give you a foot massage," Anna offered.

"Oh no. That won't be necessary."

"Go and get your massage, Ben. I'll get this stuff downstairs," Gwen said.

"But that's not proper of a lady to do that. The man should carry heavy items."

"Ben, we don't live in the nineteenth century anymore. I can do just as much if not more than you can do," Gwen said, playing along.

"Don't hurt yourself," Ben warned.

"I have my ways," Gwen said with a wink as she proceeded to lug the suitcases down the stairs.

"So, Ben, shall we proceed with the massage?" Anna asked.

"I guess so. I mean it will only take a few minutes, right?"

"I don't think why not."

* * *

_The Foot Massage_

Anna led Ben to sauna and closed the door.

"Woah! I thought this was a massage and nothing more! Why are we in the sauna?" Ben protested.

"Nothing inappropriate here at all. This will be a massage and nothing more. Now take off your socks."

"Ehh, no need. I don't wear 'em anyways." He wagged his toes at her.

"Ewww! That's gross!"

"I wouldn't know. I haven't had a bath in quite some time. "

"I see. You smell like week-old saurakrat."

"I take that as a compliment?"

"If you want to be called a fermented cabbage then I suppose yes."

"Fix me up then!"

"Let's see, some epsom salt mixed with water ought to do the trick."

"What does that do?"

"It removes foul odors, and as an added bonus, it provides soothing relief for sore muscles."

"So you don't actually have to give me a massage."

"Nope, unless you really want one."

"I'll think about it afterwards."

"Right. I'll be right back. Don't move a muscle!"

Anna came back with some of the epsom and stirred in some water.

"Now all you have to do is immerse your feet in that, and they will feel all better."

Ben looked skeptical at the prospect of actually listening to a fifteen year old girl tell him what to do, but did so anyway, and felt immediate relief.

"Man! You really know your stuff!" He gasped. "Thanks a million!"

"This sort of thing comes rather naturally when you have my kind of intellect. Now, will you still be wanting that actual massage?"

"I do indeed."

"Ok, then lie down on the chaise lounge over there by the steam vents and raise your legs."

Ben did as she instructed.

"Now close your eyes and think relaxing thoughts."

Anna took Ben's left foot in both of her hands and slowly began to rub in small circles. Applying increasing pressure, she slowly worked her way down to the sole. Then she worked her way back up.

"Mhhhm, that feels nice," Ben moaned.

Anna raised her eyebrows. "I assume you're using that in a non-sexual context?"

There was no response. She sighed and continued her ministrations. She now started to push upwards with one hand and downward with the other. Then she rolled her hand up into a fist and rocked it back and forth over the ball of the foot.

"Keep doing that…" Ben sighed.

"You're enjoying yourself?"

"Very much so."

Anna continued for another two minutes.

"Anna, I think that's enough," Ben said suddenly.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Gwen must be wondering what we're up to and I don't want her to think we've been up to something naughty."

"True, true. I guess I'll see you in two weeks, then!"

"No, come down and say goodbye to your parents."

"Alright." Anna and Ben walked down the stairs to where Gwen, the Queen, and King were waiting.

"So, have you been enjoying yourself, Ben?" Gwen asked with a mischievous air the moment he walked over to them.

"Oh, it was nothing like that!" Anna responded.

"We hope so. You're far too young and inexperienced to be doing that sort of thing," the Queen chided.

"Yeah, you wait until you're at least eighteen, you hear?!" the King said.

"Grownups...what you guys know about true love?" Anna mumbled.

"Excuse me? What was that I heard, young lady?"

"Nothing. Enjoy your vacation! See you in two weeks."

"I want to hear that you've been studying hard. Perhaps after you get in we can talk about a vacation to celebrate," the Queen said as she strolled out the door, her husband's hand in her arm, and Ben and Gwen hurrying along in their wake. They reached the limousine, crammed their luggage into the trunk, and sped off towards the harbor where the cruise ship lay waiting.

* * *

Anna watched them go, not realizing this was the last time she'd see her parents alive.

"Time to tell Elsa! I bet she'll be thrilled to know I'm planning to join her!"

But Elsa wasn't happy to see her sister.

"You're not ready for college, Anna," Elsa explained after Anna told her the news.

"Just because you're older than me by three years doesn't mean I'm not capable of doing of what you're doing."

"Perhaps you are smarter than me, but what about your relationships with other people? I've been trained since ten on how to become the next ruler of Arendelle."

"All theory. You've been stuck in that same room since I was five for reasons I still don't fully understand. You haven't been out either!"

"Enough of this! I'll tell mum you're not coming with me!"

"Well, mum said I can if I pass the entrance exam!"

"Fine! And when you fail miserably, don't come crying to me. Maybe then you'll learn not to be a show-off and give other,_ more experienced_ people a chance!"

"I'll show you!" Anna cried as she stormed off. She didn't know what to make of the heated exchange. Perhaps their friendship was irreparably damaged?_ Screw it! Who needs snobby people like her as friends anyways? I'll be popular in my own right!_

Now, the first order of business was to update the status of her Facebook account. She hardly hesitated before she changed Elsa from a "close friend" to "unfriend." A message popped up.

"Are you sure you want to remove 'Elsa' from your friends list?"

Anna clicked "Yes."

She had hardly done so when there was a knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"Anna, I'm sorry I yelled at you and called you immature," Elsa said.

"Oh, that doesn't bother me anymore."

"Really?"

"I've decided I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

"What?! You can't be serious!"

"I just did. Go back to your room, stay out here and beg me for forgiveness, it's not going to change a thing. You are nothing to me anymore, understand?"

"I do," Elsa said sadly as she walked back to her room. The tears came, but she refused to let them fall. She wiped them away with one hand._ I will be strong!_

* * *

_Slottsgaten 3, 5003 Bergen, Norway_

The giant cruise ship loomed above their heads as they got out of the limo.

"Enjoy your trip! I'll be back here promptly two weeks from now to pick you up," the Chauffeur said with an enthusiastic smile as he unloaded their luggage and then drove off.

"1...2...3...4...5…" Ben craned his neck upwards as he started to count the decks.

"No need to show me you know how to count to fourteen," Gwen said with a snicker.

"Huh? You made me lose track! I was at 8!"

"There are 14 decks on this ship."

"Oh alright, I 'll take your word for it."

"Why don't we get ourselves situated on board the ship first, and then you guys can do whatever you want."

"Food!" Ben screamed.

"Typical…" Gwen sighed. The royal couple raised their eyebrows. "I have to keep a close eye on him at all times or else he usually gets into trouble," she explained.

"I get into trouble even when you are watching me!" Ben stated. "Wait, that came out wrong."

"Welcome aboard the Norwegian _Hope_. May I please see your boarding tickets?" the ticketmaster asked. The King handed over his ticket. The ticketmaster hardly glanced at it before giving him the room key and fifteen other sheets of paper.

"Ahh, we are very pleased you will be joining us, your highness. Here's your room key and a map of the ship."

The Queen was passed through just as swiftly although she declined to have the map of the ship, saying that she would share with her husband. They left for the staterooms. Ben and Gwen, however, were different. The ticketmaster stared at them intensely for a good minute before taking their tickets.

"Ben and Gwen Tennyson… Bellwood, Illinois...18 years of age...relationship: first-cousins…" He read aloud.

"Hey! That's private info!" Ben cried, snatching the tickets back.

"So you don't want to get on the ship?" the ticketmaster asked with raised eyebrows. "No background check, no boarding. Obviously for security reasons…"

"My cousin's just a bit paranoid, that's all," Gwen replied handing over the tickets again.

"Here are your passes and a map of the ship. Enjoy your stay," the ticketmaster smiled as he handed over two room passes with one hole in them each and a diagram of the ship's layout.

"Why the special passes?" Ben asked.

"The legal drinking age aboard all Norwegian cruise ships is 21. As you two are not over the age of 21, you cannot drink alcohol unless the ship is in international waters. Then, you may drink only if your parent or guardian signs a consent form saying you can."

"Man! I wanted to get drunk off of some vodka!" Ben complained as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Ben, spirits aren't good for your health. Alcohol can cause cirrhosis," Gwen warned.

"Oh come on! You're always the goody-goody! Don't you want to take advantage of an opportunity to have fun when you see one?" Ben prodded.

"I do, but in a responsible manner. Drinking alcohol simply isn't a responsible thing to do. Especially when you can't do so legally back home."

"Like the guy said, it's legal in international waters."

"Only if a guardian signs the consent form. I don't see you convincing the King or Queen to sign on."

"Just wait. I'm sure they'll be happy to sign it for me."

"Yeah, if we can find them first. This ship is way too big." They had been wandering around aimlessly for the last ten minutes.

"Excuse me, madame. I couldn't help but to overhear your conversation. I can surely help you get to where you want to go."

The speaker was a finely dressed gentleman in a full tuxedo. His hair was neatly combed back and he had a dazzling smile.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ben asked rather rudely.

"Oh, excuse for not introducing myself, madame, the gentleman said, completely ignoring Ben. "The name's Jacques Rubins, but you may call me Jack. Don't tell me your name. Is it Gorgeous?"

Gwen blushed a deep crimson. "It's Gwen, Gwen Tennyson."

"And I'm Ben, her cousin," Ben announced loudly. "Stop hitting on her or I'll start hitting you!" He threatened.

"Hark, you hear that?" Jack asked.

Gwen giggled. "It's just my cousin. I think he's jealous."

"You right I am! No one messes around with my cousin! Especially jerks like you!" Ben balled up his fists.

"Ben, don't do it," Gwen warned.

"He deserves it," Ben replied as he marched up to Jack and socked him in the face.

"Ben! Apologize right this instant!" Gwen yelled as blood streamed down Jack's face.

"Fils de pute!" Jack swore.

"Sorry, didn't catch that," Ben taunted.

"He called you a Son of a B-," Gwen translated.

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

"Yeah? Well you surprise attacked him. I think that makes you a coward?"

Jack screamed an awkward battle cry as he punched Ben in the mouth in retaliation.

"Ok, you two are even now. Break it up!" Gwen cried. Ben grabbed Jack and wrestled him onto the floor. Jack was stronger and ended up on top.

"People are starting to stare!" Gwen warned. A crowd gathered around the pair, eager to see the fight. Security hurried over.

"Hey! You two! Break it up before I arrest you!" A security guard cried before he forcibly separated the two.

"Who started it?"

"He did," Ben said, pointing towards Jack.

"He did," Jack said, pointing towards Ben.

"Were there any witnesses? Any at all, please come forward."

"I'm the cause of all this," Gwen said.

"What?"

"So, my cousin and I were lost. Jack here kindly offered to show me around the ship. Ben thought he was hitting on me so he punched Jack in the face. Jack then hit Ben in retaliation and that's how they both ended up on the floor. That's what happened, and I swear it's the truth."

"Alright, no arrests this time, but this better not happen again, understood?" The guard asked both Ben and Jack. They both nodded.

"Now shake hands and apologize."

The two foes moved towards each other. Their hands came up and met. They let go extremely quickly.

"And now, an apology."

"I'm sorry I had to resort to physical violence to get my point across. This will never happen again under my watch," Ben and Jack said at the same time in the same monotone voice.

The guard came a curt nod of satisfaction and left.

"Are you sure you don't want a napkin for that? You're bleeding rather heavily," Gwen told Ben.

"I vood lik a napkin," Jack said thickly.

"Here you go," Gwen said, handing him one. He wiped the blood off his face.

"Ben, mate, I think we got off on the wrong foot. How about we apologize for real this time?"Jack offered.

"Yeah, I suppose that would be in order."

They shook hands for a second time, this time like real gentleman.

"I'm sorry for punching you in the mouth by surprise," Ben said sheepishly.

"Nah, it was justified. And Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Way to stick up for your girl like that!"

The cousins blushed.

"How did you know?" Ben asked.

"I know cousins are supposed to be close, but not in the way I've seen you two be just now."

"Don't tell anyone, ok?" Gwen whispered.

"Your secret is safe with me," Jack vowed. "Now, let's find your room, shall we?"

He took the map and studied it.

"You've got a luxury suite on A deck?!"

"Surprised?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, I've only got one of those ocean views. You see, I'm dead broke."

"You don't seem poor."

"Ahh, Ben. Don't you know that looks can be deceiving? This tux is the only nice piece I have."

"Oh you poor soul!" Gwen cried in sympathy. "What happened?"

"Tell you what. Why don't you two get situated in your room and then after the lifeboat drill, meet me down at the lobby on C deck and I'll tell you my tale of woe?"

"Lifeboat drill?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, you heard correctly. It's required before every cruise by international law. You've got half an hour until they summon us for it," Jack said.

"Sure, we'll meet you there. Come on, Ben! Let's get going!" Gwen cried as she dragged Ben towards an elevator..

"But we don't know where A deck is!"

"That's why you've got the map!"

Ben took out the paper map again.

"This piece of shit is fucking useless! I can't tell what deck we're on!" Ben cursed as Gwen forced him onto the elevator.

"Then give it an upgrade," Gwen sighed.

"Upgrade?"

"How much of a doofus can you be, Ben?"

"Oh, right!"

* * *

"Turn left at the end of the hallway. Walk fifteen meters in a northerly direction. Turn right. Walk twenty two meters down the new hallway. Turn right again. You have reached your destination."

"When I said upgrade, I must admit I didn't have GPS in mind. I'm impressed!"

"That's child's play compared to this," Ben gloated as the map transformed into a spinning hologram of the ship.

"Neat! What else does it do?"

"Just watch," Be responded. "Where's the boat deck?"

"The boat deck is located on D deck, next to both the casino and the movie theater. This is the place to go if god-forbid a disaster were to happen. Would you like instructions on how to get there?" A seductive life-like human female voice asked.

"Maybe later."

"Is ten minutes from now a good time?"

"I guess."

"Setting reminder for ten minutes..."

"It's ingenious, Ben!"

"Thank you very much," the computer responded. "I am a genius."

"I should give you a name, shouldn't I?" Ben asked.

"Yes. I would very much like to have a name."

"Sarah?" Ben suggested.

"Boring! How about Aurora?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, Aurora sounds lovely," the computer said. "Might I know your names, young masters?"

"I'm Ben Tennyson."

"And I'm his cousin."

"Pleased to meet you, Ben Tennyson and his cousin," Aurora said. "I'm feeling sleepy. I'll go get some sleep now, if you don't mind."

"Sure. We'll wake you up in ten minutes," Gwen said.

"Time to unpackage our stuff?" Ben asked.

"Obviously. We don't have much else to do while we wait for the drill."

"We could see what's on TV."

"You and your television...You're going to have to pay for Sumo-Slammers here, you know. It's not free."

"Not what I had in mind," Ben said in a bored voice as he flipped through the channels. To his dismay, the only channels that weren't pay-per-view were the news and Cartoon Network.

"Damn it! I don't care about Ted Cruz and his tea-party agenda! Hillary Clinton will crush him!" He screamed at CNN's live coverage of Cruz's announcement.

"Perhaps try one of the foreign news agencies?" Gwen suggested. Ben grumbled, but flipped to the BBC.

"And now, let's go revisit that historic handshake between U.S President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro at the Summit of the Americas yesterday. The two leaders agreed to put aside their past differences, and work together to bring about a new era of Cuba-U.S relations. I would like to remind our viewers that the United States and Cuba haven't had official contact since 1961 when relations were broken off by President Kennedy…"

"Ehh, I guess that's important, but I don't see what that has to do with me." Ben flipped to Cartoon Network, his last source of entertainment.

" Thought the Simpsons marathon was too much? Well, remember to tune in starting today for the Pokemon marathon! That's right! See all 877 episodes from start to finish! Witness the humble beginnings of Ash Ketchum as he journeys to become the greatest Pokemon master of all time!"

_**I wanna be the very best,**_

_**Like no one ever was.**_

_**To catch them is my real test,**_

_**To train them is my cause...**_

"Lame… Ash is still ten even though this show's been on for over 18 years! I'd thought he'd hit puberty by now. Even I have, two seasons ago!" Ben complained as he switched off the TV.

"You can't put too much sexuality in a Y-7 show, and unfortunately that's what you get when the characters go through puberty."

"We managed pretty well…"

"Until _Omniverse_ when my character got binned!"

"Don't forget, I am the title character…"

"Don't tell me-"

"Shh! I hear something!" They both fell silent.

"Yes sir. I don't know if they ever got on the ship," the Queen was saying.

"Please describe what they look like," the same security guard as before was saying.

"One's a tall but rather skinny brunette boy with shaggy hair, pale skin, green eyes, and a watch on his hand. The other is a slightly shorter girl with fiery red hair and green eyes," the King said.

"Ahh. Yes. I can positively say that they are aboard this ship. I had to break up a fight involving the boy, you see."

"Thank you so much sir."

"You should seriously discipline your children better, madam."

"But they aren't mine! All I know is the boy's called Ben Tennyson and the girl's called Gwen. They're cousins," the Queen said.

"Ahhh, sorry for the confusion. My apologies…" The guard quickly hurried away.

"What a strange fellow that man is," the King commented.

"I agree," Ben said all of a sudden, startling the royal couple.

"Ben! Where have you been?" The Queen asked.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" Gwen cried.

"Let's just say we had a bit of a miscommunication and then we got lost around this boat."

"Ship," Gwen corrected.

"Whatever."

"So, finished unpacking?" The Queen asked.

"Yup," they both said.

"Excellent. Now, all we have to do is wait for-"

"Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your Captain Edward Smith. I hope you have all gotten situated in your cabins. In a few moments, we shall begin the mandatory muster drill. This is required under the SOLAS Convention. In a few short moments, you will hear the General Emergency Alarm consisting of seven short blasts followed by one long blast on the ship's whistle. When you hear said alarm, immediately done your life jacket and proceed to your muster station located on boat deck. Muster numbers are located behind the door of every cabin. Wait at your muster station for further instruction. Thank you all for your cooperation."

"What station are we?" Ben asked.

"#1. Everyone on this floor is #1," the King said.

"The General Emergency Alarm will now sound. This is a drill."

_Booop Booop Boooop Boooop Booop Booop Booop Boooooooooooooooop!_

"Hello Ben Tennyson and his cousin! It has been ten minutes. Shall I now take you to boat deck?" Aurora asked.

"I can't hear what you're saying!" Ben shouted over the alarm.

"I said, do you want to know how to get to boat deck?"

"Of course!"

"Boat deck is on D deck which is three floors down from here. Take the elevator down three floors and walk forwards until you reach an open area. This is the boat deck. Muster station #1 is to your right."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, dear."

* * *

_The Lifeboat Drill_

"Now, listen very carefully. What I am about to say may save your life in the unlikely event that we will have to abandon ship," the uniformed crew member was saying.

"Sir, I couldn't help but notice we don't have enough lifeboats for everyone aboard," a man said.

"That is correct. We have something better than lifeboats. We have," here the man flourished his arm dramatically at some 'barrels', "automatically inflating life rafts!"

"But those are just barrels," several people complained.

"That's what you think, but when they contact water, they will transform into life rafts capable of holding up to twenty people each. And in case you haven't noticed, we have dozens of barrels lying around. Everyone will be rescued, either in the boats or the life rafts."

"How are we to launch the boats?"

"See those davits? They are used to raise and lower the lifeboats into the water. They are electrically operated, but in the event of a power failure, can also be lowered manually/"

"And the capsules?"

"Lowered the same way. In the worst case scenario, four people can manhandle the capsules into the water."

"How?"

"Just chuck them over the side," the crew member said, annoyed.

"Hey, what's that lever do?" Ben asked, pointing to a lever that read "Release Mechanism for all boats"

"Just what it say it does. It releases all the boats at the same time."

"Cool!"

"And now I have to do a required demonstration of the lowering of the lifeboats. I will get into the boat and I want someone to lower me into the water. Any volunteers?"

Nobody stepped forward.

"Hey you!" The crew member pointed at Ben. "You look like you need some exercise. Come help me unload the lifeboat!"

"Uhm, no thanks. I have asthma," Ben lied.

"No one leaves until I show this required demonstration! Young man, come."

"I told you I have asthma, damn it!"

"My cousin shall gladly volunteer," Gwen said sweetly as she pushed Ben forward.

"Excellent! Now let's show everyone how to properly evacuate, shall we?"

"Hey! I never agreed to any of this!" Ben complained.

The crew member got into the boat.

"Now, to provide the most realistic scenario possible, the electric power winch doesn't work. You will have to manually crank it, young man. By the way, what's your name?"

"Ben Tennyson."

"So, Ben. I need you to crank it slowly. Don't let it out all at once."

"Ok, I think I got it."

"3-2-1...crank!"

Ben strained to push on the crank, but was unable to produce much torque due to the high moment of inertia of the pulley and also because he was not too enthusiastic. The boat failed to budge.

"Come on, sir! I need more power!"

"You want power? I'll give you power!"

"Ben, don't do it," Gwen warned.

"Going hero!"

"Ben, no!"

There was flash of green light and Four-Arms stood in Ben's place.

"Good lord! What on earth is that thing?" Someone shouted.

"I've seen him on TV! He's the crime-fighting alien superhero!"

"Billy, that's a kid's cartoon show," a mom patiently explained to her eight year old child.

"He's real! Just watch what Four-Arms can do!" Billy insisted.

"Yes, M'am, I'm quite real," Ben told her.

"I see," Billy's mom said as she fainted. There was mass chaos as everyone except for Gwen, the King, and the Queen tried to run away from the dangerous four-armed alien. Someone tripped over Bill's unconscious mom and inadvertently caused dozens of people to also fall on the floor.

"Hey, you lot! Get back here and see this required demonstration!" The crew member yelled as he glanced back up the side of the ship and saw that no one was watching.

"Boy! What did you do with my audience?!" He continued, apparently unaware that Ben had transformed.

"They are currently on the floor right now and in danger of asphyxiation," Four-Arms replied tonelessly.

"Whatever! If they don't want to watch, they can just die when something dreadful happens!"

"Man, that's rather harsh."

"I don't care...I don't get paid nearly enough to be civil with people who don't give a damn!"

"It's not like they can."

"Shut-up and lower away!"

* * *

_On the Bridge_

"Sir, all of the lifeboat drills have successfully been carried out except for one. I don't know what's taking Bruce so long," First officer Murdoch told Captain Smith.

"Probably needs help again," Smith sighed, "just like last time."

"Shall I go assist him, sir?"

"Please do. We were supposed to leave here half an hour ago. The port authorities no doubt are wondering what the hell is happening up here."

As if on cue, "Captain Smith, might I ask why you are still docked in port with a lifeboat ready to be launched?"

"Nothing to worry about. We shall be departing here shortly."

"Sir?"

"Leave us , William."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Turn the bloody crank already, dammit!" Bruce yelled.

"Bruce Ismay! I'm appalled at your lack of professionalism. Is this how you treat our guests?!" Murdoch shouted as he ran out of the bridge and onto the boat deck. He glared at the crew member over the side of the ship.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Murdoch, sir."

"The captain expects better from you or else you will find yourself out of a job once we get back to Norway, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Now, finish up with the lifeboat lowering so we can set sail."

"Yes sir." As Murdoch turned to head back to the bridge, he noticed all the people lying on the floor.

"What happened to them?" He asked, prodding one of the passengers with his foot.

"Who, sir?"

"All these people lying on the floor."

"There are people lying on the floor?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past five minutes," an exasperated Ben cried.

"We've got multiple casualties out on the boat deck. We need medical services up here now!" Murdoch barked into his two-way radio. Ismay just stared at him.

"Well, stop staring at me and finish up!"

"Yes sir."

"Boy! I need a hand, or a few hands."

"You got it." Ben turned the crank so hard that the handle broke off and sent Ismay into the water below.

Murdoch groaned. "We've also got a man overboard. Requesting the launching of a boat to retrieve him as soon as possible."

* * *

_Twenty minutes later…_

"Yes, I can confirm they're on the ship. No, they aren't with their grandpa. Yes, I know who Ben Tennyson is! I don't know where either of them are right now, but I can find out. Ok, Ok, I'll give you our coordinates so the attack can proceed as scheduled. A pleasure to be working with you too. Goodbye."

Bruce Ismay scowled and pocketed his cellular device.

"Stop asking stupid questions and you might be a more effective ruler, Hans," he muttered. You see, Bruce Ismay is a Forever Knight.

* * *

_Somewhere over an ocean_

"That incompetent fool!" Hans bellowed.

"What is it, medieval human?" Milleous croaked.

"The informant I cleverly posted on that ship! Out of all the vacations Tennyson could have chosen, he took a fucking cruise! And not just any cruise, he had to take one on Norwegian!"

"Well, you have to admit, Tennyson was kind of limited," Attea responded.

"Stop fraternizing with the enemy!" Milleous cried.

"Just stating the facts."

"That's not helping, my dear."

"Well I'm bored!" Attea announced as she left the cockpit in a huff.

"It so happens that Tennyson chose the_ Hope_. Ismay is quite possibly the worst Forever Knight that ever existed. He is always questioning orders, is extremely clumsy most of the time, and seems to be planning a mutiny under my very nose.. The nerve! Can you believe it?!"

"It seems as this Ismay figure you're talking about and my daughter have very much in common."

"Interesting…"

"So, why haven't you dismissed him yet?"

"Well, he's useful sometimes as you have just seen, although he's every bit as annoying as ever."

"So, he has the coordinates of the ship's location?"

"They are headed towards the Mediterranean Sea. Location: 35 degrees North, 18 degrees East."

"And when's the expected arrival time?"

"Three days from now."

"Excellent. Operation Rheinübung can commence then."

"The Rhine Exercise? You named it after a Nazi naval exercise?"

"Any resemblance to past events is purely coincidental."

* * *

_Later that day_

"Oh boy, that was fun!" Gwen said.

"Yeah, my first time on a cruise ship and I almost kill two dozen people," Ben muttered.

"Well you're lucky the captain decided not to press charges. Otherwise you'd be in the brig by now," the King said.

"Right," Ben said, grateful.

"Well, we'll be off to dinner. The captain's invited us two to a private reception. You two shall be left to your own devices. Ben, I've signed that alcohol approval form. It waiting in your room," the Queen said.

"Awesome!"

"Just don't over-do it on the drinks. We don't want you to fall off the ship now," the King laughed nervously.

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him," Gwen replied.

"Have fun!"

* * *

_Lobby on C deck_

_Where the hell are those two fellows? They should have been here a hour ago!_

"Jack, there you are!" Gwen cried.

""Hey you guys. What took you so long? You should've gotten here an hour ago."

"Our demonstrator was a fucking retard who couldn't get anything straight," Ben growled.

"Ahh, I'm sorry. Did it happen to be by any chance one Mr. Bruce Ismay?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, he's very grouchy. I don't know why that is."

"He seems to be angry at the company."

"Well that explains a lot."

"Indeed it does."

"Well, settle down, make yourselves comfortable. I shall now begin to tell you the story of how I got here."

Jack's journey all started with…

* * *

_Flashback_

"Quick, Jack! Into the cellar. It's your only chance!" His mom cried as the fire raged around them. The maniacal laughter of a serial arsonist could be heard as he fled the scene.

"But what about you and dad and Steven and Rebecca?"

"We'll be fine. We're salvaging some memories and then we'll come right down."

"Is the fire department coming?"

"Yes, they'll be here soon. Don't you hear the sirens?"

_eeeeooooooooeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooo_

"Yes."

"Good boy. Help will be on its way shortly. We'll get you as soon as we can."

* * *

_Present_

"But they never did," Jack said sadly.

"You mean…"

"Yes, I was the sole survivor."

* * *

_Flashback_

_Smash! Smash! Boom!_

"Hello! Is there anyone there? We're the fire department and we've come to rescue you!" The fire-chief yelled.

"My youngest...He's in the cellar. Save him!"

"Ma'am, we're sorry, but we need to save you first."

"No...my youngest...save him, not me."

"Ma'm, you're delirious." To his men he said," Give the women some morphine and get out the chainsaws."

A paramedic administered the morphine.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out."

_bwwob bwwwobbubwub. Clunk!_

The last piece of wood fell apart. The fire-chief reached out and pulled the mother to safety. The remains of a father, son, and daughter appeared beneath all that rubble.

"Jesus, all are dead!" The fire-chief exclaimed. The mother looked over, saw all the dead bodies, and died.

"There's one more person we have to save and that's the boy!"

"Mom? Is that you?" The youngest called from the cellar.

"We're the fire-department. We've come to rescue you!"

"Oh thank God!"

\"Are you injured in any way?"

"I don't think so."

"Stand back. We are going to bash open the door."

_Smash! Smash!_

The boy was pulled from the rubble.

"Chief, the whole structure is very unstable. It could collapse at any moment."

"Then we have to get out of here as soon as possible. Son, can you walk?"

"I think so."

"I need you to run as fast as you can and as far away as you can. Don't look back, got it?"

Jack ran as fast as he could out the front door. Just as he got outside, the structure collapsed, killing the entire fire-company.

* * *

_Present_

"So did they ever catch the bastard that did this?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, they did eventually. But his lawyers argued he was insane at the time, and the jury bought it. The guy was sent to a mental institution."

"What happened to him?"

"A few years ago, he escaped and returned to the fire-house that responded to the call that day. He burned that place down too. Just as he was leaving the scene, the police arrived. They recognized him from before and realized he was completely sane. The guy took the flamethrower he used to burn down the fire station and turned it on the cops."

"And what happened to you?" Gwen interrupted.

"I had no immediate family left, so the state sent me to live with my uncle. He was an abusive alcoholic who beat me often, but he had lots of money. A few days ago, I stole a thousand dollars from him and hopped onto this cruise ship."

"That sounds like a story you made up," Ben said.

"Ben, who would be sick enough to concoct a story in which their own parents die?"

"Believe it, don't believe it, whatever. It's true."

"It just sounds odd, that's all."

* * *

_Two days later…_

_Bridge_

"So, gentlemen, I suppose you know why I called you here?"

"Yes sir!"

"There's been some sort of miscommunication of the standards aboard this ship. I expect that you all treat the passengers with the utmost respect and dignity. However, one of you has violated that duty so severely that I have no choice but to call you out on it. I suppose you know who you are?"

"Captain, sir? Is it I?" Bruce Ismay asked.

"Ahh, yes. Bruce it is you. Mind telling me why you sent twenty-four people to the hospital?"

"I was mad, ok? I was mad at this stupid company! I'm mad that you refused to promote me to officer even after all I've done for you. I mean seriously!"

"You did nothing of that sort! You are a lazy and arrogant fellow!"

"Excuse me? Say that to my face again?"

"You are treading a very fine line here, Bruce. Your lack of enthusiasm and refusal to obey orders is frustrating."

"Who asked you? You're not the boss of me!"

"Yes I am, Bruce. And unless you want me to terminate your job, I suggest you treat me with a little more respect."

"Well, you don't have to fire me because I quit!" Bruce stormed out of the bridge.

Stunned silence followed.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go back to your duties!" Smith ordered.

Most of the crew except those on the bridge crew left.

"Sir, should I organize a team to arrest Bruce?"

"Don't bother. He's a fanatic. No one will listen to him."

* * *

_Floating next to the matter transporter_

"I must thank you, Eon. This looks absolutely wonderful," Milleous said.

"Do not mention the words 'thank you' and 'Eon' in the same sentence ever again. I work for myself and myself alone! We just happen to have a common goal at this point in time."

"As soon as we get the call back from our dear associate in there," Hans pointed at the warp-hole, "We will be able to locate their exact position using this technologically advanced piece of equipment I have here in my possession." He held up a GPS locator.

"Please… That's a primitive tracking device. Level 2 technology," Attea sneered.

"Attea, remember he's stuck in the 90s right now. GPS was still a new thing back then," Milleous reminded her."

"Hey! I'm offended by that! We are a very progressive society!" Hans retorted.

"You only ditched WWII a week ago."

Hans peered out of the ship.

"Oh my! Has it really been a week on this flying conundrum? How long can we stay aloft?"

"It's been a MONTH! And the answer to your second question is indefinitely."

"A whole month? But what about food? Why am I not dead yet?"

"We don't need to store food as we survive solely on insects. See that fly over there? He's about to become my next snack."

_ Buzz! Buzz! Snap!_

"Mhhhm, delicious," Milleous exclaimed, smacking his lips in satisfaction.

"That's simply disgusting," Hans commented.

"Learn to appreciate other cultures or get off of my ship!" Milleous bellowed.

"But what about me and my food?

"Shut-up and quit complaining! You get what we give you," Attea growled.

"But you haven't given me anything!"

"Here!" Milleous cried as he chucked Hans a ham sandwich. Hans simply looked dumbfounded. The sandwich nearly clocked him in the face, but Hans managed to catch it at the last moment.

"I thought you didn't bring food aboard," Hans commented.

"That was before I found out you would be joining us. I thought I'd prepare for your human palate."

"I can't thank you enough!"

"Don't. I don't even know why I did this in the first place."

_Stand up, all victims of oppression!_

_For the tyrants fear your might!_

"Ahh, it's our associate calling," Hans commented as he picked up his cellular.

"Hello mien füher. We are almost to the Mediterranean Sea. You can proceed with the attack once you receive a signal."

"And what is that signal?" Hans snapped.

"You'll figure it out when the time comes. Comrade Ismay out!"

"You are not my comrade. I am your superior!" Hans screamed, but Ismay had already hung up.

"Interesting fellow," Milleous noted.

"Dreams of a world under socialism everyday. He made me change my ringtone to_ The Internationale_."

"Ready to go into the portal I created? I can't keep it open for much longer," Eon growled.

"Yeah, yeah. We're going," Hans grumbled.

"You going into another world will also disrupt the time stream here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Milleous asked.

"I've told you before. It's your fault if you weren't paying attention."

Eon vanished.

"Damn you, time-walker!" Hans cursed.

"Into the black-hole, I mean warp-gate!" Milleous ordered. The pilot increased the throttle to full power and the ship managed to breach through the gate and into the world of_ Frozen_.

"Ladies and gentleman. This is the captain speaking. We are on approach to our final destination, the Norwegian _Hope_. Please remember to take all belonging with you as you exit the craft. The Incursean Armada wishes you a pleasant journey," Milleous crackled.

"So, how do we go about destroying the ship?" Hans asked.

"Easy. I am the master of destruction. Bombs and torpedoes should do the trick."

* * *

_Ballroom_

"Who's up for some karaoke?" Damon, the cruise director asked.

"Go on, Ben," Gwen said, pushing him a little.

"No! I don't want to! I don't know how to sing!"

"There's a first time for everything. Go on!" Gwen cried, now yanking on his shirt.

"Let go of me!"

"Not until you get up on the stage."

"Oh look everyone! That young man in the 10th row looks interested! He's having a furious argument with his girlfriend!"

"Ooooooh," Everyone sighed.

"Why don't you come up here and show your love for that very special someone?" Damon asked.

"I don't think so," Ben muttered.

"Don't be shy, young man. Look, I'll stand here right next to you if it makes you feel better." He went offstage and dragged Ben onto the stage.

"An introduction if you will," Damon whispered.

"Uhm, hello everybody. I'm Ben Tennyson, savior of the universe and wielder of the Omnitrix."

"Care to tell everyone what exactly that is?"

"It's this watch that crashed to Earth eight years ago and affixed itself to my hand. I can transform into one of many aliens using said watch." Ben instantly regretted saying that.

"I want to see one!" Someone cried.

"If you really want to experience one, I suggest you go down to the hospital and ask one of the patients there, haha," Ben laughed nervously.

"And who's that girl you were having an argument with? Is she your girlfriend?"

"No!" Ben cried, turning a beet red. "She's just a really good friend and not to mention, cousin."

"Don't worry young man. We are a very progressive society. Cousin love is perfectly acceptable here in Europe."

"Is that so?" Ben asked nervously.

"Oh yes. Just look at the audience here! They're loving it!"

Ben glanced at the audience. Some were shaking their heads. A few more vocal members decided to speak out.

"That's disgusting! I'm ashamed of you!"

"Kids these days can't control their hormones. I swear, they're screwing anything that can crawl!"

"Cousin-fucker!"

"Pervert!"

"Child molester!"

"Hey! She's the same age as me!" Ben cried, try to defend himself.

"This sort of relationship was illegal in my parent's day!"

"Don't you understand that incest is wrong?"

"Hey! Give the kid a break here! Cousin marriage is legal now! And while I don't personally support it, I see no reason to deny him the same dignity as the rest of us. What's wrong with falling in love with your cousin? Is it simply because it seems like a foreign idea to most of us?" A man cried, finally fed up with all this nonsense.

"That's exactly what I mean! It's wrong and I don't like it!"

"Then get out!"

All the conservatives immediately left.

"Thank you, sir," Ben said.

"Don't sweat it, man. I see this kind of discrimination everyday back in my hometown. I understand where you're coming from. In Belarus where I'm from, the president's a homophobic, anti-semitic jerk who also discriminates against disabled people."

"Then why not try to escape?" Ben asked.

"Lukashenko prohibits people from travelling freely even within the country. I only got this cruise because I swore I wouldn't try to seek political asylum. Not that I can, anyways. The KGB's outside my house 24/7 keeping my family hostage until I return. I'm Vladimir by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to hear about the way you are treated."

"I wake up everyday hoping today will be the day the people rise up and overthrow Lukashenko, but no luck yet."

"Let's not give up hope."

"I like your optimism, kid."

"Ben," He corrected.

"Now Ben, let's get back to the show. What are you going to sing for us?" Damon asked.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to Gwen Tennyson, a true friend, an amazing cousin, and *pause* the love of my life. Please enjoy."

Ben stepped up to the microphone and began to sing.

_**If I should stay,**_

_**I would only be in your way.**_

_**So I'll go, but I know**_

_**I'll think of you ev'ry step of the way.**_

_**And I will always love you.**_

_**I will always love you.**_

_**You, my darling you. Hmm.**_

_**Bittersweet memories**_

_**That is all I'm taking with me.**_

_**So, goodbye. Please, don't cry.**_

_**We both know I'm not what you, you need.**_

_**And I will always love you.**_

_**I will always love you.**_

_**I hope life treats you kind**_

_**And I hope you have all you've dreamed of.**_

_**And I wish to you, joy and happiness.**_

_**But above all this, I wish you love.**_

_**And I will always love you.**_

_**I will always love you.**_

_**I will always love you.**_

_**I will always love you.**_

_**I will always love you.**_

_**I, I will always love you.**_

_**You, darling, I love you.**_

_**Ooh, I'll always, I'll always love you.**_

Ben took a bow at the end.

"Ladies and gentleman, wasn't that simply amazing? Let's give him a well deserved round of applause!" The crowd went wild, but Ben didn't care about their reaction. He only cared about Gwen's.

"Ben, that was so sweet of you! Thank you so much!" Gwen cried as she gave him a giant hug and a kiss on the cheek. Ben was stunned. She had never displayed her affection towards him in public.

"No, thank you for always being there, Gwen," He said in reply.

"That was excellent, Ben!" Jack cried.

"That's some talent you've got there," Vladimir commented. "Perhaps you want to try out for American Idol?" And in response to their quizzical looks at how how he would know such a show leaving in Belarus all his life, he hastily added, "Oh, only Western news is censored in Belarus. Entertainment is still allowed."

"I see. Well, I'm quite tired, so I think I'll be going to bed now."

"We dock in Italy tomorrow, so if you're up early, maybe you'll catch us passing the Vatican!" Damon said. He left the ballroom to go back to his quarters. Vladimir did the same.

"Goodnight!"

"Don't have too much fun tonight if you know what I mean!" Jack cried with a wink.

"Relax, We've hardly gone to first base yet," Ben said.

"And I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible. I can't get my MD-PhD if I'm pregnant with Ben's child!"

"I sense make-up sex in the works here," Jack commented. Ben and Gwen both glared at him.

"I'm not doing anything with her until she says she's ready."

"Ok, ok! I was just kidding."

"We'll see you in the morning."

* * *

_Later that night- Bridge_

"Ok men, listen up! I know morale's been quite low after Bruce Ismay's unfortunate departure, but I don't know why. The fool's spewing some utter nonsense just because of a personal grievance."

"If I may, sir, he does have a point. You aren't exactly known for treating your crew as equals."

"That's because they aren't my equals. I'm the captain, not them!"

"But sir, perhaps if you'd just listen to their complaints…"

"Not another word out of you, Hitchens. Your job is to steer the ship, not engage in mindless bickering, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"There's a good lad. Keep it up and I may promote you yet."

"May I have a word with you privately, sir?" First officer Murdoch asked.

"Yes, of course." They left the bridge together.

"Sir, you have to treat the crew better. You haven't paid them in three months, and I'm afraid if you don't do so soon, they're going to start a mutiny."

"Don't tell me what to do, William. I am still your commander, even if we're on first name terms. And besides, we have methods of bringing the situation under control should it ever come to that."

"I hope so."

* * *

_Dinner Party_

"More wine!" Captain Smith called.

"Sir, I think you've had plenty to drink tonight. Perhaps you should stop?" A waiter suggested.

"I'm perfectly clear on what I want and that's more wine!" He insisted. The waiter just shrugged and poured him some more wine. After all, he didn't care about his crew, so why should she care about him? Pretty soon, he was dead drunk.

"Sir, are you sure you don't want to go to bed now?" Murdoch asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Anyways, you're the captain. If anything goes wrong with the ship, it's your fault, hahahahaha," Smith slurred.

"Take the captain back to his room and keep him there until he's rational again." Murdoch decided.

"Yes sir!" Two men came forwards to drag the drunken Smith back to his stateroom.

"Wha are you doin? I didn' ghe no wine!" Smith complained as he lunged at the tablecloth to keep from being dragged away. Somehow, they managed to get the captain safely back to his room.

* * *

Watching the drunk captain being escorted away, Bruce Ismay smiled. He signaled to his band of five other radicals to follow him.

"Where are we goin', boss?" Pierre asked.

"The armory."

"What's that?"

"The place where they store the weapons, idiot!"

"But why have weapons on a cruise ship?"

"To keep mutineers like us at bay. But we are going to use their weapons for a little fun!"

"I'm scared of the dark!"

"Oh shut-up and get over it!"

"Also, I'm claustrophobic."

"Look, it'll be a quick and painless job. We go in, we go out. Takes a max of thirty seconds if you don't screw up. You don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I'll go! I'll go! The secret police scare me even more than you do!"

"Ok then. Here's the plan. Emilia, you go up to the guards at the armory and distract them. Pierre, since you're claustrophobic, you can wait outside with Emilia and keep a lookout. The rest of you, follow me into the armory where we raid the weapons."

"But there's too many to take," Emilia noted.

"I haven't overlooked that fact. We have here a shopping cart disguised as a janitor's bucket. I have no idea how they managed to do that, but they have and we'll be grateful to them for it."

"What are we waiting for then?" Emilia asked.

_Bong! Bong!_

"12 midnight! Let's move it!" Bruce cried. The five men and one woman creeped towards the armory. The two guards instantly saw them.

"Hey, you lot! Halt!" They shouted as they trained their AR-15 assault rifles on the five rebels.

"Woah there! No need for any violence here. We're just janitors. The captain called us over here to do some cleaning," Bruce explained.

"Be as that may be, this is a restricted area. You are not allowed beyond this point," Willy, one of the guards, stated.

"Oh really? What's so precious here that we aren't allowed to see?" Emilia asked.

"That's none of your business!" Sherman, the other guard, snapped.

"But we have to clean inside of that door, sir. Captain's orders," Bruce protested, pointing at the vault.

"Firstly, Captain Smith would never order such a job in this location, let alone at twelve at night. Secondly, even if he did, he couldn't have done so tonight because he's currently in bed with a terrible hangover! So, my only conclusion is that you all are a bunch of liars who are out to steal the contents of this vault," Willy said triumphantly.

"You are all under arrest for trespassing, false impersonation, and lying. Come with us please." It was an order, not a request.

Not one of the rebels moved.

"I _said_, come with me," Sherman repeated as he made to grab ahold of Emilia's arm. She spat in his face.

"Don't you fucking touch me!"

"Add to the list of charges insubordination, use of a biological agent with intent to cause death or severe injury, use of an obscenity, and resisting arrest," Sherman said with satisfaction while wiping his face off. Willy added them to his list.

"I hope you get AIDs and fucking die, you motherfucking son of a bitch!"

"Threatening an officer of the law, also a crime."

"My dearest apologies, sirs. My accomplice is overly dramatic for no reason at all," Bruce told the guards.

"Thank you! Finally, someone willing to cooperate!"

"No problem." Bruce lifted the mop out of the bucket. Both guards flinched and pointed their weapons at him.

"Sir, put down the weapon now and get down on the ground!"

"This is a _**mop **_for crying out loud!"

"Put it down! We aren't going to say it again!"

"Ok, ok. You win. I'm putting it down now," Bruce said as he laid the mop down on the floor, but not before pressing a button.

"Step away from the weapon and put your hands up where I can see them," Sherman ordered. Bruce backed away from the mop with his hands raised. He slowly began to count down in his head.

_10-9-8-7…_

"Now put your hands behind your back," Sherman continued as Willy moved forwards to cuff Bruce.

_6-5-4-3..._

Willy was right in front of the mop now.

_ 2-1-0. Pssht!_

A small dart emerged from the end of the mop and hit Willy in the nards. He immediately began to have a seizure.

"Willy? Oh my God, Willy!" Sherman cried as he ran to help his buddy. Unfortunately, he left his rifle propped up against the wall since he naively assumed that the rebels would say where they were as he ran off to render whatever aid he could offer.

"Willy, don't worry! I'm here to help!" Sherman dropped to his knees in front of the still convulsing Willy.

"I would strongly recommend not doing what I think you're about to do," Bruce warned.

"Of course you don't! I'm here to save his life from whatever you guys did to him!"

"You're not supposed to touch a seizure victim, you know," Pierre said. "You're supposed to let it run its course."

But Sherman didn't listen and yanked the dart out of his partner's groin. Willy stopped having the seizure, which was a good thing. What came next was a complete shock to Sherman though. Suddenly, Willy started to foam at the mouth.

"What did you guys do to him?!" Sherman bellowed.

"It was just a muscle relaxant, relax," Bruce told him.

"What about him foaming?"

"That's because you yanked it out of him before it was time. Must be one of the side-effects."

"How do I stop it?"

"..."

"That's it! Where's my goddamn rifle?" Sherman reached for his rifle to do some threatening when he realized he didn't have it with him.

"Looking for something?" Emilia asked as she played catch the AR-15.

"Give that back right now!"

"Sir, you are in no position to make demands. We outnumber you, your partner's dying on the floor in front of you, and you've managed to lose your weapon. Under these circumstances, I think we're the ones who should be making demands of you," Bruce said.

"Don't try me. I will never surrender to the likes of you!"

"Oh please! I know you won't, but think about your partner. He's semi-conscious right now and slowly fading away…" Pierre said.

"You obviously care deeply about your partner's well-being and I respect that. There is no virtue higher than compassion. Now, I can help you if you help me first."

"Think about it. The life of your friend or what's inside some stupid vault that you haven't even seen the inside of?" Emilia asked, appealing to pathos. That did it.

"Ok, I'll open the vault for you. Just save Willy," Sherman pleaded. He entered the code into the door which unlocked it, granting access to the weapons inside. Bruce stayed behind while the others rushed in to loot.

"There. I fulfilled my part of the deal, so you do yours."

"I am a man of my word." Bruce took a small vial filled with yellow liquid and tipped it into Willy's mouth.

"The antidote," he explained quickly to Sherman who was just about to ask what it was. The liquid drug had an immediate effect. Willy stopped foaming and opened his eyes.

"My whole body aches," he said groggily.

"Willy! You're alive!" Sherman exclaimed.

"All thanks to me," Bruce muttered.

"Yes, thanks to this guy over there. I guess I should thank you even if you tried to kill us."

"Don't mention it. I may be a nonconformist, but I still have a heart."

"Hey boss! We got the weapons!" Emilia cried as she pushed the janitor's bucket.

"Excellent work! Let's see. We've got 12 AK-47s, 3 RPG-7s, 10 M-16s, 5 AR-15s, 20 M1911s, and an M2 Browning machine-gun. That's quite an impressive haul, but we don't need that much."

"Excuse me?"

"It's a bit of an over-kill for a simple rebellion."

"We may need it to fight our way past the PSB," Pierre said.

"PSB?"

"Public Security Bureau aka the secret police. Smith's personal bodyguards."

"Interesting… Let's go before they get here."

" Hold on. What do we do with these two? Kill them?" Emilia asked. "They'd kill us if they got the chance."

"We could do that… But I am not a ruthless man. I only do what needed."

"So what do we do?"

"We can use these two as bargaining chips in our negotiations."

"So…I'm a hostage?" Sherman asked.

"Don't think of it like that, my dear friend. You willingly gave up your freedom to save your friend. A better term would be _Noble Guest of Honor_. Now let's go."

Prodding the two guards up the stairs with the barrel of their AKs, the group slowly made its way to the lobby.

"The bridge is near. Now, if we can just…"

"PSB!"

"What?" The blinding light of a flashlight hit him.

* * *

_Shootout with the PSB_

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"We need light! Use your tracers!"

Bruce turned on the lights in the lobby.

"You! You're the rebel without a cause!" Jerome the leader cried.

"Well, I admit I am a rebel, but I think I do have a cause. My cause is justice for all the oppressed crew members aboard this ship."

"You and your co-conspirators are under arrest for-"

"The second time this night?"

"Don't interrupt me! You are under arrest for stealing weapons, taking hostages, and planning to mutiny! You will come with us now."

"Look, I don't want to start a fight or anything, but we aren't going with you."

"Then we'll have to kill you."

"Why so extreme?"

"Don't ask questions! This is your last warning. Either come with us or die!"

"Hey, you two might want to get behind us because things are about to turn ugly," Bruce told the two hostages.

"There's nowhere to hide!" Sherman hissed back.

"Try to find a place," was the curt answer. So they did… in a bathroom.

"We'd rather die as martyrs than go with you," Bruce declared. Jerome just shrugged.

"Excellent. I get to kill again today. Boys, get them!"

Crouching behind a sofa he had manhandled into position on the second floor of the lobby, Bruce waited for moment where the most soldiers would be bottled up near the entrance. Then, with the 30 rounds in his AK and a few hand grenades, he'd unleash a storm of deadly fire…

The soldiers were still fruitlessly searching for the rebels on the first floor, unaware that they were all on the second. Bruce pulled the pin off of one of his grenades, counted to two, and then chucked it over the side. The resulting explosion was the signal to open fire.

He stood up and started to blast away at the soldiers below with his AK.

_Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat_

The enemy was caught by surprise and dozens fell where they had stood. Others sought to return fire, but it was sporadic and poorly directed. Bullets whizzed past him and embedded themselves in the plaster walls behind him. He smiled and continued to blast away.

_ Click._

Bruce pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened. He was out of ammo. Cursing, he tossed the now useless AK over the railing where it struck an officer on the head. Bruce pulled out his Glock and slid down the banister, firing all the way. Wood splinters flew from the railing due to the return fire and embedded themselves in his skin. As he landed, a grenade exploded near him. Luckily, he rolled away from the blast and wasn't killed, but he still got shrapnel in his left thigh. Limping, he made his way behind the reception desk, where he had cleverly stored extra weapons, ammo, and most importantly a first aid kit. Using pliers, he yanked out the sharp metal from his flesh and bandaged it. He managed a glance over the top of the reception desk. Although they had caused a significant number of casualties, the PSB were slowly gaining the upper hand. Around a dozen soldiers had commandeered a thick piece of sheet metal which they were using as a shield to block the .50 caliber bullets from Emilia's M2. Pretty soon, they were right on top of her position. Seeing her in grave danger, Bruce chucked a smoke grenade 20m to aid her escape.

* * *

A thick smoke covered the battlefield, obscuring the rebels from view.

"Ceasefire you buffoons!" Jerome bellowed.

"Owww! My leg!" Cried a soldier who had been shot fifteen times and was in severe danger of bleeding to death from blood loss.

"My head!"

"My intestines!"

"Excuse me?!" Jerome said dangerously.

"It hurts so bad," the soldier moaned as he stared at the gaping hole in his stomach caused by shrapnel from the grenade Bruce chucked earlier. His large and small intestine were almost completely outside of his body.

"Do I look like I care?"

"Help me!"

"Fine." Jerome, being the cruel and sadistic animal he was, took hold of both intestine.

"What are you doing?" The soldier cried out.

"Helping you like you asked me to," Jerome replied before yanking out the intestines. The soldier screamed once before dying.

"There, all better," Jerome smiled as he wiped his bloody hands on the dead soldier's uniform. He moved on to the guy suffering from fifteen gunshot wounds to the leg. The pain had made him oblivious to all around him, so he had no idea his commander was a twisted, sadistic savage.

"Where does it hurt? The leg?"

"Yes sir. I got shot like 15 times."

"Don't look at it while I bandage it, ok?"

"Ok. Thank you so much sir." But Jerome had no intention of doing what he said he would do. Instead, he drew his sidearm and aimed it at the poor lad. There was hardly any hesitation before he fired a single round into the back of the boy's head, killing him instantly.

"One more shot to add to your fifteen previous ones," He laughed loudly and without any hint of remorse. Then he moved on to the guy who hurt his head. The private tried desperately to run away after he saw the dreadful things that had happened to his brethren. Alas, he had no legs! So, he tried to crawl away on the stumps of his arms and legs. Jerome caught him all too easily.

"Going somewhere?" He asked the terrified soldier.

"N-no-no."

"You haven't received proper medical attention yet. I bet that neck injury of yours hurts, right?"

"Don't touch it!"

"This'll make it feel a lot better." He broke the soldier's neck.

"No more pain?" The soldier looked at him with unmoving eyes.

"I take that as a yes." The rest of the soldiers all looked at their commander in horror and utter disbelief.

"You-you-you killed them!" One finally cried.

"Yes I did. They were proving to be a burden, so I ended their miserable lives. Perhaps they will be of greater use in death than in life."

"You monster! No sane human being would do that to another human being!"

"Aye, but I'm not exactly sane, am I?"

"..."

"What are you all doing milling around then? Get back to work and find me those fugitives!"

"Looking for someone?" Asked a voice behind him. He turned around to find Bruce pointing a .357 Magnum at him.

"There he is! Kill him!" Jerome screamed at his men. No one moved.

"Didn't you hear me? You bastards have a clear shot, so shoot him already!"

"We don't follow orders from insane commanders who show no regard for human suffering," an officer said, echoing the thoughts of everyone else in paramilitary brigade.

"Insubordination! I'll have you all hanged by the balls for this!" Jerome threatened.

"My my. You're doing an awful lot of talking for someone who does absolutely nothing while watching those under his command get slaughtered. That simply won't do now, can it?"

"Shut it! You're still going to die even if my men won't shoot you. I'll just have to shoot you myself!" He pulled out a Walther PP.

"Any last words before I blow your fucking brains out?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I reckon I do. NOT TODAY!"

Bruce grabbed Jerome's right hand with his own. He then grabbed the barrel of the gun with his left and pushed it towards Jerome. This resulted in Jerome's hand getting twisted. In pain, Jerome dropped the gun. Bruce kicked it far away so it couldn't be used against him. He then pointed his own at Jerome.

"You were saying?" He asked with a smile.

"Mercy...Have mercy!" Jerome pleaded.

"I'm sorry? Are you begging me for mercy?"

"Please, have some humanity."

"What about yours? What about those wounded soldiers who you so callously murdered?"

"They were useless anyways."

"As is your life. No, you must die as well to pay for your crimes. There can be no mercy for those who show none."

"I-I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, but sorry just doesn't cut it, not today, not for what you did. You have my deepest apologies for this, though you never apologized for what you did."

"No!" Jerome lunged at Bruce with both of his arms outstretched, trying to strangle him. Bruce took a step back and fired once into Jerome's forehead. Jerome collapsed with his hands resting on Bruce's neck.

"So close and yet no cigar," was all Bruce said, removing Jerome's limp arms from his neck and and placing them by his sides. He also shut Jerome's eyelids.

"It's over. Your commander is dead. Lay down your weapons and surrender," Bruce told the remaining soldiers.

"I am Field Marshal Friedrich Von Steuben and I wish to discuss the terms of surrender with you, sir." A smartly dressed man marched up to Bruce and offered him his pistol.

"Actually, I don't require much at all. Just keep out of our way and we'll get along splendidly."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to march up to Captain Smith and give him a piece of my mind.

"Can we join you? We must voice our opinions as well!"

"Right! We've been mistreated!"

"To the bridge then comrades!"

* * *

"Sir, the ship is dead ahead."

"Excellent. Proceed into attack formation. Attea, are the torpedoes loaded?"

"Aye, and the bombs as well."

"You are to launch a spread of three torpedoes on the starboard side. Then, you are to cover me while I drop bombs."

"Got it."

"Now we just wait for the signal.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Ben, wake up!"

"Huh, what is it Gwen?"

"I heard gunfire downstairs in the lobby."

"You must have been dreaming," Ben replied. He glanced at the clock and it read 1:36 AM. "Go back to sleep. It's not even 2 yet."

"Oh no sir I'm not. You're coming with me to investigate."

"You go do that yourself. I'm tired." Gwen groaned in frustration and hurled some pink mana at him.

"Oww! What was that for?!" Ben cried out in pain and anger as he rubbed his forearm.

"To wake you up and make sure that you'd come with me."

"You could have done so in a nicer way you know," Ben said, annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, but that would've taken time, and that's not something we have the luxury of right now."

"Fine, I'll go with you."

"I thought so." They left the room and immediately bumped into Jack.

"Hey guys! Fancy seeing you at 1 in the morning."

"Shhh, not too loud. Our 'parents' could hear!" Gwen warned.

"Too late," Gwen muttered as the door to the room next to them opened.

"We heard voices in the hallway. Is everything alright?" The King asked.

"I couldn't sleep because some luny decided to shoot up the ship at 1 in the morning," Gwen complained.

"Ahh, well the PSB will take care of it."

"PSB?"

"Public Security Bureau. It's kind of like the captain's own private army."

"Isn't that illegal?" Jack asked.

"Who are you?"

"Your majesties, this is Jacques Rubins also known as Jack. Jack, this is the Queen and King of Arendelle."

"Is that a real city?"

"Oh, it's somewhere in Norway. They just don't tell you that in school. You see, we aren't exactly known for anything," The Queen replied.

"Come on, let's go to the bridge!" Ben cried.

"Anyone know a good protest song?" Bruce asked.

"How about the song of the people?"

"What's that one?"

"Listen and you'll find out."

_**Do you hear the people sing?**_

_**Singing the song of angry men?**_

_**It is the music of the people**_

_**Who will not be slaves again!**_

_**When the beating of your heart**_

_**Echoes the beating of the drums**_

_**There is a life about to start**_

_**When tomorrow comes.**_

_**Will you join in our crusade?**_

_**Who will be strong and stand with me?**_

_**Beyond the barricade**_

_**Is there a world you long to see?**_

_**Then join in the fight**_

_**That will give you the right to be free!**_

* * *

"Listen! Do you hear singing?" Gwen asked.

_**Do you hear the people sing**_

_**Lost in the valley of the night**_

_**It is the music of a people**_

_**Who are climbing to the light**_

_**For the wretched of the earth**_

_**There is a flame that never dies**_

_**Even the darkest night will end**_

_**And the sun will rise.**_

_**They will live again in freedom**_

_**In the garden of the Lord**_

_**We will walk behind the plough-share**_

_**We will put away the sword**_

_**The chain will be broken**_

_**And all men will have their reward!**_

"Come on! They're headed for the bridge!" Ben cried.

* * *

_Bridge_

"Say, do I hear singing?" Murdoch said to himself.

"Uhmm, yeah, I hear singing alright."

"Open the door!" Bruce cried.

"Who is it?" Murdoch asked.

"Open this door in the name of the people!"

"Hey, what's going on here?" Ben asked.

"A revolution!"

"Guys, guys, can't we calm down and talk this over?" Murdoch asked as he opened the door. A M-16 was pointed in his face.

"Hey, drop the gun!" Bruce called out as he forced the gun down.

"Bruce! What are you doing here?" Murdoch asked.

"I am commandeering this vessel," Bruce stated simply.

"No you're not," Ben said as he pushed himself into the room. "Not if I can help it!"

"Keep out of this Alien boy."

"Sorry, but I can't let you this!" Ben cried as he transformed into Buzzshock.

"But you can't stop me!" Bruce cried as he lunged for the distress rocket launcher. Confused, Ben let him.

"Uhmm, I thought you were taking control of this ship?"

"I changed my mind. You'll see soon."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ben told Gwen as he changed back.

"For once, I agree with you."

* * *

"A distress rocket was just launched!"

"That must be the signal. Attea, get to your ship!" Milleous cried.

"On it!"

"Tennyson, you are so dead this time!" Milleous bellowed.

* * *

Attea approached the port side of the ship and launched her torpedoes.

"Man, this is so easy!" She exclaimed.

* * *

_At the same time in the crow's nest._

The two man team watched Attea's starfighter fly by.

"Such a beautiful night, isn't it?" Reginald asked his partner.

"Shhh! I'm concentrating!" James snapped as he scanned the waters ahead. Suddenly, he saw what appeared to be bubbles on the ocean surface around half a mile away.

"Say, do you see what I see?" James asked.

"Bubbles?"

"Fuck!" James screamed as he picked up the phone.

"Hello? Bridge? This is the crow's nest."

"..."

"Pick up you bastards!"

* * *

_Outside the bridge_

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

"Hey matey!" Second officer Jack Sparrow yelled.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?"

"Yes. What do you see?"

"Iceberg, I mean torpedoes dead ahead!"

"Thank you!" Sparrow put down the phone and ran back to the bridge.

"Torpedoes incoming!"

"Hard-A-Starboard!" both Murdoch and Sparrow yelled.

Quartermaster Hitchens rapidly turned turned the wheel to port. Murdoch quickly ordered the engines to be put into reverse.

* * *

_Engine Room_

_Ding! Ding!_

"Full astern!"

A engineer ran to stop the diesel turbines.

_Thunk! Thunk! Screech!_

The engines slowly grinded to a halt.

"Now! Engage to reverse the engines!"

The button was pushed to reverse the engines. The propellers began to churn backwards furiously.

* * *

_Back on the Bridge…_

Murdoch ran out to get a sense of the scale of the impending danger. For some reason, the ship still didn't seem to be turning, even after he had given the order for the wheel to be turned and the engines to be reversed. The ship continued to head straight for the torpedoes.

"Is it hard over?" He yelled.

"Yes sir. Helm's hard over!" Hitchens replied.

_Come on...come on! My whole fucking career depends on it! Give me a miracle! Turn! Turn damn you!_ Murdoch thought.

Slowly, the ship began to turn, but not nearly enough.

"I don't think we're going to make it!" Ben cried. The first torpedo just barely missed due to the evasive action taken, but the second and third torpedoes struck the ship. The entire ship jostled as if in an earthquake.

"Well gentleman, we did our best, but our best just wasn't good enough!" Murdoch exclaimed.

"Jesus Christ! We actually got torpedoed!" James screamed at Reginald in the crow's nest.

"I never thought I'd see this happen on a cruise ship. Kinda reminds you of the Titanic, doesn't it?" His partner replied.

"Yeah, but unlike the Titanic, more than a third of us are going to be saved."

* * *

Down in the #5 engine room, water started to pour in from a 15 foot gash in the hull. The crew had just settled down for a late night snack when one got hit in the face with a fat jet of water.

"What the hell…" He muttered as he wiped his face off.

"Ship's been holed!" The foreman cried.

"Like hell it has."

"Better tell the bridge…"

* * *

"Yes, we know about the damage. #4's just told us of similar troubles in their compartment. Just hold tight until we find out how bad it is. Thank you," Sparrow hung up the phone.

"So, we've got a gash 15 feet across in #5 and 32 feet across in #4. Water's pouring through both at around 7 tonnes per second," He reported. Murdoch looked grim.

"That's not good news. We have to slow down the flooding so we can evacuate everyone in time." His mind made up, he pulled a lever on the wall to lower the 25 watertight compartments.

* * *

_#4 Boiler room_

_Ding ding! Ding ding!_

_ Clunk clunk clunk!_

The alarm sounded, the red light started flashing, and the watertight door slowly began to lower.

"Everyone out! They're closing the doors!"

Men struggled against a torrential downpour of freezing water to reach the door before it closed. Just as the last man got through, the door slammed shut. Similar scenes played out in the other 24 compartments.

* * *

Everyone on the bridge watched as the light above each compartment on the ship's layout lit up, indicating that all the sections were now sealed. Murdoch simply shook his head.

"Note the time and date in the log. We have to document this," He told Sparrow.

"Yes sir. Time is 2:00 in the morning, January the 12, 2016. Time to collision was 37 seconds," Sparrow said as he wrote it down.

"Captain on deck sir!" A crewmember warned. Captain Smith appeared in his boxers and shirtless.

"Mr. Murdoch, we've hit something?"

"No sir. Something hit us sir. Two torpedoes to be exact."

"Ahh, I was wondering what woke me up from my hangover. Are we holed badly?"

"We've got a gash 15 feet across in #5 and 32 feet in #4 sir. Water's been slowly rising."

"Close the watertight doors!"

"Doors are already closed sir. It was the first thing I did after the impacts."

"And you've noted the time and date in the log?"

"Done that too sir," Sparrow said.

"Full stop!" Smith ordered.

"Sir, the crews have abandoned their posts due to the rising water…"

"I meant the emergency brake."

"Ahh, yes." Murdoch yanked the lever to stop the ship. The engines stopped turning, and the giant ship lay still.

"Mr. Andrews?" The captain now addressed the chief architect of the _Hope_.

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to come with me on a damage inspection."

"Yes sir."

"Sir, may I suggest you go back to your room first to change? You aren't exactly looking professional right now," Murdoch commented. Smith looked down at himself.

"Yes, of course." He looked deeply embarrassed. As Smith left the room to go change, he issued one final order.

"Everyone who isn't a part of this bridge crew, GET OUT NOW!" He glared at the two dozen people crammed into the small space next to the door.

"Hey, Mr. Smith!" Ben cried.

"Who the hell are you?" Smith asked.

"Can I have your autograph before you know, you drown?"

"Ben! That's a terrible thing to say!" Gwen admonished.

"Hey, I'm just stating the worst possible scenario!"

Smith turned to Sparrow. "Make sure that idiot boy doesn't get onto a lifeboat."

"Yes sir."

"Hey! You can't deny me the right to life!" Ben shouted. The captain just smirked and left with Andrews to get changed and do the damage inspection.

"You heard the captain! Everyone clear out!" Murdoch bellowed. Grumbling, they all complied. All except Bruce and company.

"We still haven't settled this little dispute yet," Bruce muttered.

"Listen, I'm sure we can work this out later. My number one priority is making sure everyone gets off this sinking ship safely," Murdoch replied.

"Agreed. We can put this off till later." They shook hands to confirm the deal. Bruce and the rest of his co-conspirators then left.

* * *

_Back aboard Milleous' ship_

"Hey daddy, I'm back!" Attea announced.

"Get back in your ship! You're supposed to cover me while I drop bombs!"

"It was a complete surprise. They never knew what hit them!"

"So the ship is sinking now?"

"I think they slowed down the sinking with watertight compartments or something. The ship seems stable for now."

"Not for long it won't. Not after I'm done with it."

"And what about the lifeboats? They are going to evacuate soon."

"Oh let the fools escape. As long as Tennyson's trapped aboard, why does it matter if two thousand people are saved?" Eon growled. For some reason, he keeps on returning to the shop after swearing he'll never come back...

"Well, what if Tennyson's one of those two thousand?"

"Don't you want this to be a game of cat and mouse? Let him escape. It'll be more fun!" Hans exclaimed.

"I don't have fun, Hans, in case you haven't noticed!" There was a vein threatening to burst in Milleous' head as he said it.

"Calm down, daddy. You don't want to add high blood pressure and brain hemorrhages to your already long list of medical ailments, which include diabetes, obesity, asthma, delusions of grandeur, obsessive compulsive disorder, stroke, and strangely, dementia."

"I AM NOT GETTING OLD!"

"Shut-up and bomb the shit out of them already, damnit!" Kevin cried.

"Right! Wait, was that what I was about to do?"

"I told you, daddy! You are exhibiting the classical signs of early stage dementia."

"ARRRRGH!"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Captain Smith takes a trip to the wireless room before leaving on his inspection. The door was open.

"Brandon, Rebecca, we have been torpedoed-Uhm, am I interrupting something?"

"YES! YES! OH GOD, YES!"

Rebecca was currently sprawled out naked on the bed while Brandon was on top of her, thrusting in and out.

_Ahem!_ Smith cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, hello sir," Brandon said, extremely embarrassed as he got off of Rebecca.

"Well, glad to see _**you're **_still up at this late hour. It makes my job just sooo much easier."

"Listen, it's not what it looks like…" Brandon said.

"You see, it was sort of spur the moment," Rebecca said.

"I didn't expect to see my two wireless operators screwing around like rabbits WHILE THE FUCKING SHIP IS SINKING!" Smith cursed.

"Sorry sir. It won't happen again."

"Nevermind that. As you should have heard had you NOT been fucking like crazy, the ship's been holed by two torpedoes. I'm going on a damage inspection now, but be prepared to send out a distress signal should the need arise. I'll be back shortly. In the meantime…"

Smith glanced around the disorganized room. There were clothes scattered everywhere, the sheets were upended, they had used the Marconi wireless antenna as a dildo, the white liquid still dripping…

"GET DECENT!" He barked in the end.

"Yes sir!" They both saluted. Smith closed the door.

"Now where were we? Oh yes…" Brandon said as Rebecca now climbed on top of him.

"YES! YES! HARDER! FASTER!"

* * *

_Out on the promenade deck…_

"Hey Ben, isn't that Milleous' flagship?" Gwen asked as the starship buzzed them.

"Yeah, what's it doing here? How'd it even get here?"

"Up to no good I bet."

"Right as usual, Gwendolyn," Milleous snickered. "Tell me, does it hurt to be right all the time?"

"What do you want, Milleous? You fucking stalker!" Ben yelled.

"I am not a receiver. I'm a giver. In fact, I've already given you two of something."

"Ben, does he mean those two torpedoes?" Gwen asked.

"I bet it was you who torpedoed this ship, wasn't it?" Ben accused.

"I don't deny it," Milleous admitted.

"You like slaughtering innocent lives?"

"I must say I do, especially when they involve people like you!"

"You can't! It's against the rules of war!" Gwen protested.

"Hey, all's fair in love and war, as you earthlings might say. Enjoy your presents!"

"Not if I can help it!" Ben cried as he transformed into Ball Weevil.

"Oh please! You're going to launch some explosive goo at me? You don't have enough power to get it this high!"

"Think again!" Ben quickly rolled up 50 balls of goo. He then transformed into Bloxx and loaded them all into his arm cannon.

"Batter up!"

"I stand corrected," Milleous remarked as the first heavy projectile missed by mere inches. He ordered the pilot to take evasive action to avoid being hit.

"Nice try Tennyson, but you won't stop me from sinking this ship!" He flew away.

"I guess he gave up?" Ben asked hopefully.

"He chickened out, that's what," Gwen responded.

"Or maybe, HE'S GONNA DIVE-BOMB US!" Ben screamed as he tackled Gwen to the floor. Lasers blasts burned holes in the deck beneath them. Ben jumped up and began to fire wildly at the rapidly climbing starship. Milleous dropped a few bombs in seemingly random locations. The first blew up near the stern and destroyed the propellers, not that the ship needed them anyways. It wasn't going to move any time soon. The second penetrated three decks and blew up in the kitchen. The third and fourth missed entirely although they did rock the ship. The fifth blew up near the waterline between the 19th and 20th compartments, flooding both simultaneously. The sixth landed in the swimming pool and failed to explode. The seventh destroyed the bulkhead between the 5th and sixth compartments, permitting water to flow into that compartment as well. Now out of bombs, Milleous dropped a small magnetic charge on the boat deck before returning to where Ben and Gwen were.

"Now I'd love to stay and watch another Titanic unfold, but I have more important matters to attend to!" Cackling madly, he escaped through another interdimensional portal Eon created.

"Damn it! We let him escape again!" Ben cursed.

"We weren't exactly prepared for him..." Gwen stated.

"WE SHOULD HAVE!" Ben exploded.

"Ben, calm down please."

"PARADOX TOLD US TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT!"

"Ben, no one can understand his metaphors. How were we supposed to know his 'enjoy it while you can' meant we were in grave danger?"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE! YOU'RE THE SMART ONE!"

_ Slap!_ Ben rubbed the red mark on his cheek where Gwen had slapped him.

"Sorry I had to do that to you Ben, but you were out of control. Calm down and listen to me for once."

"You're right. I'm sorry for yelling at you Gwen. Do you want a hug?" Gwen fell into his embrace. His green eyes met hers.

"Blaming ourselves for what happened isn't going to solve anything," she said.

"I know. I let my emotions get the better of me."

"Come on, let's go back inside. We can help with the evacuation."

* * *

_Damage Inspection_

"Well, this is pretty bad," Smith told Andrews as the two stood on the catwalk overlooking compartment #4. Water was still still gushing inside despite the best efforts of the pumps that automatically deployed in an effort to keep the water out.

"It is indeed serious, although the ship is in no danger of sinking at this point."

"So…"

"We should send in crew to patch up the damage as soon as possible."

The ship was rocked several more times. There was a terrible groaning sound as the bulkhead between #5 and 6 gave way.

"I think our problem just got worse, Mr. Andrews."

"Oh yes. A lot worse."

"Sir?" It was Murdoch.

"Yes?"

"We've lost our propellers, gotten flooding in the 6th, 19th and 20th compartments, and have a massive hole in the boat deck that extends three floors down. I think it was bomb damage this time."

"Say no more. I'm coming back up. Get the ship's owner up there as well."

On the way back, he stopped by the wireless room again.

"Hey! Are you decent?" He called.

"Yes we are!"

"Good. We've been hit by a few bombs this time, and it looks like we're about to go under. Send a distress signal to all ship in the immediate area as well as the Italian Coast Guard."

"On it!"

* * *

_Back on the Bridge…_

"We have here a map with the ship's layout," Andrews said as he spread out the map over a navigation table.

"As all of you are well aware, the _Hope_ is divided into 25 watertight bulkheads. Any four can flood and we'd still be in good shape. Of course, we'd have to remain motionless, but we'd still be afloat. Now, we have giant holes here, here, here, here and here." He pointed to the 4th, 5th, 6th, 19th, and 20th compartments.

"That is one too many. To compound that issue, we have more forward compartments flooding than we do aft. The weight of the water in the bow will pull the bow low into the water, ensuring that water spills over the bulkheads and into the adjacent compartments."

"So basically, we haven't learned anything from the Titanic," Matasuki Yamada, the ship's owner said.

"We have. We just didn't think it was necessary to make the compartments truly watertight with all the recent safety advances and all."

"But what about the pumps?"

"The pumps are overwhelmed now. They won't be of any help."

"But this ship can't sink!"

"She can and she will. It is a mathematical certainty."

"How much time do we have?" Smith asked.

"Oh, three hours give or take thirty minutes."

"That should be plenty of time then to launch all the boats and get everyone to safety. Gentleman, it's time to uncover the lifeboats and rouse the passengers. We have an evacuation to take charge of."

* * *

_Wireless Room_

Smith knocked on the door again.

"May I come in?"

"Sure," Brandon said. He let the captain in. Rebecca was at the wireless set tapping out the distress signal."

"What are you sending?" Smith asked.

"Oh, SOS, CQD, the usual stuff."

"How about a simple Mayday to the Italian coast guard?"

"You know, I haven't tried that."

"..."

"This is the cruise ship the Norwegian _Hope_ squawking Mayday. We have taken two torpedos and four bombs. Down at the head and sinking fast. Requesting immediate assistance. Coordinates are 35 degrees North, 18 degrees East."

* * *

_Somewhere on the shore_

"Yes, you have reached Italian Coast Guard. How may we be of assistance to you today? Yes, I know you are in distress. Do you need police, fire or ambulance? None of these?! You want rescue boat? No, we don't offer rescue boat. Have a good day!" The guy hung up. The phone immediately rang again.

"Hello? Yes, this is Italian Coast Guard. It's you again? I told you, we don't offer rescue boat! You are sinking? Oh, we offer you rescue boat then! No, we are not liars. You didn't describe your situation clearly enough. Yes, yes, we'll be there in three hours. You only have three hours? Too bad! We are watching the Winter Olympics." He hung up again. The phone rang again.

"Hello? This is- No, I'm not talking to you again! You are delaying a good hockey match you know!"

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman, this is the captain speaking. I'm going to be very straightforward with you. I could tell you we are in no danger of sinking. I could tell you that this ship is unsinkable. I could tell you everyone will be saved and that help is on the way. None of these are true. We are indeed sinking and there is nothing we can do about it. Some people will be undoubtedly lost in the confusion and that is very unfortunate. There are enough lifeboats although some will probably be launched half empty. Some of our crew are not properly trained in emergency procedures and may unknowingly injure or even kill some of you. I ask that you try to be patient with them. Help is not on the way as the Italian Coast Guard is currently watching the ice hockey match between Italy and Canada. I hear Italy is losing by a score of 6 to 0. Yes, we are pretty much screwed, but please don't make this situation any worse. Please put on your life belts and proceed in an orderly fashion to your muster station like we practiced a few days ago. Crew members will be there to guide you into a boat. Thank you for your cooperation."

* * *

_Evacuation_

Two thousand panicked passengers crowded onto the boat deck as the stern rose higher and higher.

"Come on! Everyone into the lifeboats! No time to lose!" Murdoch cried. He was in charge of the port side while Sparrow was in charge of starboard. People crowded onto the rickety lifeboats.

"Lower away! Lower away!" Murdoch cried whenever a lifeboat was filled to capacity. But the system was grossly inefficient. By 4:00, only ten of the twenty lifeboats had been filled. Over one thousand people were still aboard. Suddenly, the magnetic device that Milleous had dropped onto the boat deck activated. Instantly, every lifeboat and raft, including the occupants inside of them, vanished. The remaining people were trapped aboard a sinking ship with no hope of survival.

"Is this the end, Ben?" Gwen asked.

"No. We're main characters. We can't die.

The captain walked on deck. "Gentleman, you have done your duty. You can do no more. Abandon your cabin. Now it's every man for himself!"

"Now would be a good time to pay us!" The crew shouted.

"Yes. I've already arranged that. Your families will each get one hundred thousand dollars plus five hundred percent of your annual salary."

"So I was wrong about you. You do care!" Bruce said.

"And I have seen you are not an arrogant seaman."

The two former enemies shook hands and made peace...right as the second funnel collapsed and killed them both. People started running towards the stern of the ship, hoping for some miracle to occur. The main characters stayed put.

"Listen, we can't save all three of you, so two of you will have to die..." Gwen began.

"I'll stay on the ship," Jack said.

"No, we will, together," the King and Queen said.

"Seriously? But what about your daughters?" Ben asked.

"Elsa and Anna are teenagers. They'll be just fine!"

"Just promise me one thing," the Queen said.

"What?" Ben asked.

"Promise me that after we're gone, you two will take care of them. Send them off to university. At 21, Elsa will have her coronation ceremony. That means she becomes the new queen."

"Right."

"Can you do that for me?"

"We shall do our very best, your majesty."

"That's all we ever asked for."

"I guess this is goodbye then."

"Goodbye Benjamin Kirby Tennyson and Gwendolyn Catherine Tennyson. It was a pleasure meeting you both!"

The trio left the royal couple as they too made their way to the stern. The ship's orchestra stopped playing.

"Gentleman, it's been an honor playing with you tonight. And now our time has come. Goodbye and good luck to you all!" The violinist named Tucker decided to play one more song.

_**Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!**_

_**E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;**_

_**Still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee,**_

_**Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!**_

_**Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,**_

_**Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;**_

_**Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to Thee, etc.**_

_**There let the way appear steps unto heav'n;**_

_**All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv'n;**_

_**Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.**_

And now, the stern rose higher and higher until it was almost at a sixty degree angle. The ship split between the third and fourth funnels with a great cracking sound. The priest was preaching his last sermon and hearing confessions.

"_I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years__\- Revelations 20:4."_

"Now is a good a time as any to accept Jesus!"

"Gwen, we have to go right now!" Ben shouted as the stern plunged one hundred feet.

"Let's join hands and sing Kumbaya, eh?" Gwen said with a smile. Ben clasped hands with his cousin and Jack.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou are with me-Psalm 23:4."

_Exieis!_

_**You're here, there's nothing I fear**_

_**And I know that my heart will go on.**_

_**We'll stay forever this way**_

_**You are safe in my heart**_

_**And my heart will go on and on.**_

A purple tornado transported the three of them from the sinking ship to Arendelle.

* * *

"Man, that was really close! Remind me never to go on a cruise ship ever again!" Ben said as he dropped on the ground, exhausted.

"Where are we?" Jack asked as he glanced at the frozen landscape around him.

"Arendelle, the city that no one's heard of in a country that most people have heard of," Gwen replied.

"Ahh, Ben, Gwen! You're back! Oh, but who is this? You've brought another traveller back!"

"Not quite. He's still part of the _Frozen_ universe even if he's never been to Arendelle. And you lied to us!"

"I had to. Or else you would never have gone on the trip."

"Yeah? Well, thanks to you, everyone aboard died except for the three of us when Emperor Milleous attacked." Gwen burst into tears.

"Look what you did, Paradox! Now you've made my cousin cry! She's probably feeling guilty for letting all those poor people die because you made us get on the fucking ship! And for what reason?"

"To kill the King and Queen of course!"

"They could've died in a storm like in the actual movie. Instead, you had to go out of your way to kill an extra 1,998 people!"

"I'm terribly sorry. It was very bad planning on my part."

"That's it?! You killed almost two thousand people and you're sorry?" Ben asked incredulously.

"Uhm, they weren't actually real people. They were CGI screenshots."

* * *

_Funeral_

"We are gathered here today to remember the lives of the King and Queen of Arendelle. For many years, I am told, they ruled this kingdom with benevolence. Their lives, along with the lives of 1,998 others, were cut tragically short by two torpedoes and four bombs. However, their spirits will remain with us forever. It is time now to grieve, but soon, in our world, it will be time to turn our grief into action. We know who perpetrated these terrible crimes against humanity, and we shall never rest until they are brought to justice. In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be we are. Always remember that when you are tempted to walk down the path of evil. Remember the King and Queen of Arendelle."

Ben sat down again.

"Well, how was it?" He asked.

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Gwen said.

"Aww, come here you!" He grabbed his cousin and kissed her.

"Eww, don't do that in public!" Jack exclaimed.

_Ahem!_

"Will you two stop making a scene or do I have to separate you?" The pastor glared at them.

"Sorry!" They both said. deeply embarrassed.

* * *

"Elsa?" Anna questioned.

"Go away Anna. I don't want to talk to you."

"Just listen to me for once, will you?"

"..."

_**Please, I know you're in there,**_

_**People are asking where you've been**_

_**They say "have courage", and I'm trying to**_

_**I'm right out here for you, just let me in**_

_**We only have each other**_

_**It's just you and me**_

_**What are we gonna do?**_

_**Do you wanna build a Snowman?**_

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Attention all citizens! Ben Tennyson is dead! He was blown to smithereens while attempting escape from the law. Let his death be a warning to you all: No one escapes the wrath of Milleous! But hey, enough with the unpleasantness right? Let us rejoice this happy day!"

_**Good news!**_

_**He's dead!**_

_**Benjamin Tennyson is really dead!**_

_**The Omnitrix failed him in the end**_

_**It couldn't save him from the wrath of Milleous!**_

_**Good news!**_

_**Good news!**_

_**Look! It's Princess Attea!**_

_**Let us be glad**_

_**Let us be grateful**_

_**Let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue**_

_**The wicked workings of you-know-who**_

_**Isn't it nice to know?**_

_**That good will conquer evil?**_

_**The truth we all believe'll by and by**_

_**Outlive a lie**_

_**For you and-**_

_**No one mourns the Wicked!**_

_**No one cries: "They won't return!"**_

_**No one lays a lily on their grave**_

_**The good man scorns the Wicked!**_

_**Through their lives, our children learn**_

_**What we miss**_

_**When we misbehave**_

_**And goodness knows**_

_**The Wicked's lives are lonely**_

_**Goodness knows**_

_**The Wicked die alone**_

_**It just shows, when you're wicked,**_

_**You're left only**_

_**On your own…**_

_**Yes, goodness knows**_

_**The Wicked's lives are lonely**_

_**Goodness knows**_

_**The Wicked cry alone**_

_**Nothing grows for the wicked**_

_**They reap only**_

_**What they've sown**_

_**No one mourns the Wicked!**_

_**Now at last, he's dead and gone!**_

_**Now at last, there's joy throughout the land**_

_**And Goodness knows**_

_**We know what Goodness is**_

_**Goodness knows**_

_**The Wicked die alone**_

_**He died alone…**_

_**Woe to those**_

_**Who spurn what Goodnesses**_

_**They are shown**_

_**No one mourns the Wicked!**_

_**Good news!**_

_**No one mourns the Wicked!**_

_**Good news!**_

_**No one mourns the Wicked!**_

_**Wicked!**_

_**Wicked!**_

* * *

So, how'd you like this latest chapter? A tad bit darker than usual, ehh? It will only get darker as the story goes on! Please read and review! Can anyone guess what the next chapter's gonna be about?


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